THE 



AMERICAN ORCHARDIST; 

OR 
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OP 

APPLE AND OTHER FRUIT TREES, 

WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES TO WHICH THEY ARE 

LIABLE, AND THEIR REMEDIES. TO WHICH IS ADDED THE 

MOST APPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AND 

PRESERVING CIDER, AND ALSO WINE FROM 

APPLE JUICE AND CURRANTS. 

Adapted to the use of 

AND ALL LOVERS AND CULTIVATORS OF 

TTNH FRUIT. 




BY JAMES THACHER, M. D. 

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 

Honorary Member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 

and of the New- York Horticultural Society, &c. 



SECOND EDITION, MUCH IMPROVED. 



"Nature in her teaching- speaks in very intelligible language- 
and that language is conveyed by experience and observation. 5 ' 



PLYMOUTH, MAS3. 

PUBLISHED BY EZRA COLLIER. 

1025. 



DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT! 

DISTRICT CLERK'S OFFICE. 

Be it remembered, That on the twenty-fourth day of October, 
A. D. 1825, in the fiftieth year of the Independence of the Unit- 
ed States of Amsrica, Ezra Collier, of the said District, has de- 
posited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he 
claims as proprietor, in the words following-, to wit : 

'"The American Orchardist ; or a practical treatise on the cul- 
ture and management of apple and other fruit trees, with obser- 
vations on the diseases to which they are liable, and their reme- 
dies. To which is added the most approved method of manufac- 
turing 1 and preserving cider, and also wine from apple juice and 
currants. Adapted to the use of American Farmers, aud all 
lovers and cultivators of fine fruit. By James Thacher, M. D. 
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Hono- 
rary Member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the 
New- York Horticultural Society, &c. Second edition, much 
improved. 'Nature in her teaching speaks in very intelligible 
language, and that language is conveyed by experience and ob- 
servation.'" 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, 
entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by secur- 
ing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and 
proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned :" 
and also to an act, entitled "An act supplementary to an act, 
entitled, An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing 
the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and pro- 
prietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ; and 
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of Designing, Engrav- 
ing and Etching Historical and other Prints." 

JNO. W. DAVIS, 
Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. 



Allen Danlbrth, Printer. 



TO THE 



PRESIDENT AND OTHER OFFICERS OF THE 
MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Gentlemen : 



P 



resuming upon your acquiesence, I introduce to your no- 
dice this little practical treatise upon one of the most interesting 
and pleasing branches pertaining to the science of agriculture. 
The utility of a cheap publication of this kind, for the informa- 
tion and encouragement of our farmers, is unquestionable. If 
this humble attempt should meet your approbation, and be found 
to possess a degree of merit calculated to co-operate with your 
zealous efforts to promote agricultural pursuits and improve- 
ments in our country, a knowledge of your character is an am- 
ple pledge that you will not withhold your patronage and favour. 
If, however, it shall appear that 1 have subjected myself to the 
accusation of having stepped beyond the limits, within which 
my actual knowledge should be confined, then will a conscious- 
ness of laudable motives, of assiduity and fidelity in the collec- 
tion of experimental facts, remain as my only consolation. I 
am not unapprized of the almost invincible prejudice, which pre- 
vails among our farmers, against what they term ''book-farm- 
ing," "book-knowledge," &c. &c. ; and the anecdote is fresh ia 
my memory, of an honest farmer, who, on being inquired of 
Why his neighbour's farm was not productive, replied, "because 
he has booked it to death." These prejudices exist chiefly among 
those, whose minds are unenlightened, and views unexpanded by 
that useful knowledge, which is only to be acquired by reading. 
It must be conceded that almost all improvements are derived 
from the records of practice and observation ; and when we 
have reason and experience to support, and plain facts to con- 
firm, we may become less tenacious of the rules of our fathers, 
believing that it may be the reserved privilege of the children, 
to acquire the skill of producing two spires of grass where their 
fathers produced but one. It is a remarkable fact that the first 
planters bequeathed to their posterity a greater number of or- 



IV DEDICATION. 

chards, in proportion to their population, than are now to be 
found in the old colony ; and it is no less notorious that the chil- 
dren have substituted a poisonous liquor for the salutary bever- 
age, which almost exclusively cheered the hearts of their virtu- 
ous ancestors. The views of men are often materially affected 
through mere indolence of temper, no less than through the 
cloud of prejudice. Averse to the labour of reading and inquiry, 
they adhere pertinaciously to the routine of their predecessors, 
and treat with equal contempt the lessons of experience, and all 
suggestions of improvement. It is not, however, desirable that 
former modes of practice in husbandry should be abandoned un- 
til it shall be incontestably proved, that a system more adapted 
to our circumstances, and in all respects of superiour utility, can 
be founded on the surest basis. It is not to be required of our 
farmers to subject themselves to the expense and uncertainty 
of novel experiments ; but he who possesses capital and leisure, 
and who, in the spirit of investigation, shall put in execution a 
hundred new projects, although in ten only shall he be successful 
in the acquisition of useful khowledge, will be entitled to public 
praise and respect. These pages contain no speculative or vis- 
ionary projects, nor recommend any untried experiments. Al- 
though a portion of information is derived from European au- 
thors, no inconsiderable part of it has been collected from the 
practical experiments and observations ot our own countrymen. 
There is, therefore, no part of this production but what may be 
adopted as applicable to our climate, and calculated to promote 
the interests of the cultivators of our soil. The knowledge re- 
specting the proper management of fruit trees is contained in 
numerous volumes, and in incidental papers, published in peri- 
odical works. My object has been to collate and embrace all 
the principal circumstances relative to the subject, and con- 
dense the whole into a small compass, that shall be accessible 
both to the pecuniary means of all, and to the intellectual powers 
of the most ordinary capacity. The authorities to which 1 am 
chiefly indebted, are the several Encyclopedias, Forsyth on 
Fruit Trees, and the valuable periodical publications of your so- 
ciety, and various other similar productions. If, in a few in- 
stances, it shall appear that 1 have employed borrowed language 
without marks of quotation, my apology is, that I have copied 
from minutes collected at various times, without reference to 
the source whence derived ; not that I would wittingly pilfer 
the cultivated fruit of others* and impose it upon my guests as 
the result of my own industry. 

Nothing can be more irksome to a reflecting mind than a state 



DEDICATION. V 

of inactivity and idleness. I have devoted some of my leisure 
hours to the subject of this treatise, and have derived from the 
employment both recreation and improvement. Should the 
book share the fate of many others, aud pass into neglect and 
oblivion, it will not be a cause of chagrin ; but if it should be so 
fortunate as to rise into popularity, and arrest the attention of 
our farmers, who may be assured that a little "book -knowledge" 
will do them no harm, it will be a source of the highest grati- 
fication. 

The Massachusetts Agricultural Society, through your agen- 
cy, gentlemen, has already exerted a happy influence, tending 
to eradicate former prejudices, and greatly to ameliorate the 
condition of our husbandry in its various branches. 

With the view of encouraging a familiarity with agricultural 
books among our farmers, permit me to suggest the expediency 
of supplying our several county societies with the Massachusetts 
Agricultural Repository, on the most favourable terms for dis- 
tribution ; and also of paying, in certain proportions, your annu- 
al premiums in cheap books on agricultural subjects. 

That you may long continue to enjoy the satisfaction to be 
derived from your patriotick labours, is the fervent desire of 

Your humble and obedient servant, 

JAMES THACHER. 
PLYMOUTH, JULY, 182L 



RECOMMENDATION. 



THE gentlemen who sign the following- Recommendation are 
officers of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, although they 
do not subscribe as such ; but cheerfully consent, as individuals, 
to honour the publication with the following- testimony of their 
approbation. 

Boston, September 10, 1821. 
WE have perused, at the request of Dr. Thacher, his Trea- 
tise on the Culture of Fruit Trees, and the Art of Making Ci- 
der; and, although we cannot hope that our opinions will have 
any great weight with the publick, yet, as the author is desirous 
that we should express them, we have no hesitation jn saying, 
that it appears to us an excellent compendium of all that has 
been written on the subject — comprising, within a moderate 
compass, the result of the observations of the experienced cul- 
tivators of Europe, and of this country — with many original sug- 
gestions of his own — and we believe that such a work will be of 
great value to those, who wish to obtain a knowledge of this 
branch of agriculture, but who cannot have access to the orig- 
inal sources, from which, with great labour, and, as we believe, 
good judgment, this compilation has been formed. 

[Names of the gentlemen who, as individuals, si^n the above 
recommeedation ; with the addition of their titles, as copied from 
the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal.] 

AARON DEXTER, M. D. President. 

SAMUEL W. POMEROY, Esq. First Vice-President. 

THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Esq. 2d Vice-President. 

JOHN PRINCE, Esq. Treasurer. 

JOHN LOWELL, Esq. Corresponding Secretary. 

Hon. RICHARD SULLIVAN, Recording Secretary. 

Hon. PETER C. BROOKS, ^ 

Hon. JOHN WELLES, 

Hon. JOSIAH QUINCY, 1 Trustees 

S. G. PERKINS, Esq. 

GORHAM PARSONS, Esq. 

E. II ERSE Y DERBY, Esq. 



Preface to tlae Seecmd Edition. 

THE American Orchardist having- been honoured by the 
publick approbation, as evinced by the early disposal of the 
first edition, the author is encouraged to prepare for the press a 
new edition, containing- many improvements, and considerable 
additional matter. This little volume will not be found deficient 
in auy requisite to gratify the wishes of those who may be de- 
sirous to select the most advantageous and eligible method of 
cultivating the finest fruits, and of preparing the valuable liq- 
uors which they are known to afford. Much attention has been, 
bestowed also, in forming a correct catalogue of the most ap- 
proved varieties of fruit, with the peculiar qualities which they 
possess, that the purchaser may with facility make his selection 
of such as are in highest repute among our most experienced 
conroiseurs. It has been a primary object to compress the 
whole in so small a compass, that the price of the book may not 
be enhanced, while its contents shall be rendered no less com- 
pletely adapted to the use of our farmers and cultivators, than 
any similar work which hae hitherto been offered to the pub- 
lick. While the author would most respectfully proffer his 
grateful acknowledgements for publick honours and patronage, 
he flatters himself with the hope that no one will ever have cause 
to regret that he contributes to the remuneration of persevering 
industry by purchasing a copy of the American Orchardist. 
PLYMOUTH, OCT. 1825. 

N. B. It is from a sense of justice and respect that I em- 
brace this occasion to acknowledge, that in the first edition of 
this work, an error was inadvertently committed, as respects 
the venerable Timothy Pickering, Esq, In the several pages 
16, 17, 21, 45, language and sentiments are ascribed to him, 
which I now learn were derived from a different source ; and 
in the present edition, pages 16, 18, 22, 49, the same errors 
were reprinted previous to my receiving that gentleman's disa- 
vowal. The circumstance is to be explained as follows : While 
compiling the first edition and searching every source for mate- 
rials, I found in the Massachusetts Agricultural Journal, vol. 3, 
page 39, an anonymous production "On, the culture of Trees." 
By some means which I cannot at present recollect, I received 
the impression that it came from the pen of Col. Pickering, and 
was induced to avail myself of the supposed authority according- 
ly. I am now authorised and requested to assert that Col. Pick- 
ering disclaims all knowledge of whatever is ascribed to him in 
the several pages above mentioned. 



MDEMFDOa 



JOHN LOWELL, ESQ. 

President of the Massachusetts Agricultural 

Society — the generous patron of systematick 

agriculture, to whom the science is indebted for 

indefatigable labours and useful achievements : 

This second edition is, with 

great respect and consideration, 
dedidcated by his 
humble servant, 

THE AUTHOR, 



THE 

AMERICAN ORCHARDXST. 



"And the Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden 
to dress it and to keep it." Saying-, "In the sweat of thy 
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." 

"What a luxury do the sons of sloth lose." — Harvey. 

Rise early to your orchard and garden. See if your trees and 
plants flourish — listen to the chirping of the joyous birds — 
cultivate rural pleasures, and health, vigor and comfort 
will most assuredly be your portion. 



APPLE TREES. 

AMONG the numerous varieties of fruit-bearing 
trees, cultivated in our country, the apple is, confess- 
edly, of superiour importance and utility. Whether 
considered as an esculent for the dessert, as an article 
for culinary purposes, or as affording a pleasant and 
wholesome beverage, this fruit is not to be surpassed 
in Excellence. If the productions of tropical climates 
are valued for their grateful and delicious qualities, 
the apple, more permanent and durable, and possess- 
ing nutritive and salubrious properties, is incompara- 
bly of the greatest estimation. From a natural and 
happy gradation, this fruit attains to full growth, in 
2 



10 CULTURE 

successive order, during summer and autumn ; and, at 
quiring greater perfection and maturity after gather- 
ing, it may., by proper care, be preserved for the ta- 
ble, or for culinary use, until the return of the flower- 
ing season. The soil and climate of the United States 
are admirably adapted to the growth of the apple 
tree, except in certain districts in the south, where 
the land is level and sandy, and the atmosphere re- 
plete with humiditjr. Even the colder regions of 
iuaine annually furnish excellent apples for the Boston 
market. We have an ample variety of apples, many 
of which are allowed to be of superiour quality as to 
size, beauty and flavour. Notwithstanding, however, 
these advantages, and the immense value of apple or- 
chards, their cultivation has received but inadequate 
attention from the farmers of our country. It must 
be confessed, as a notorious truth, that an orchard, 
planted and cultivated in the most advantageous man- 
ner in point of beauty, profit, and convenience, is 
scarcely to be found in the sphere of our observation. 
The most palpable neglect prevails in respect of prop- 
er pruning, cleaning, and manuring round the roots 
•f trees, and of perpetuating choice fruit, by engraft- 
ing from it on other stocks. Old orchards are, in 
general, in a state of rapid decay ; and it is not un- 
common to see valuable and thrifty trees exposed to 
the depredations of cattle and sheep, and their foliage 
annoyed by caterpillars and other destructive insects. 
In fact, we know of no branch of agriculture so unac- 
countably and so culpably disregarded. If it be ob- 
jected, that the profit will not remunerate for the 
labour and expense of cultivation, the obvious reply 
is, let the experiment be fairly tried, in a few instan- 
ces, and the result will soon correct the erroneous 
impression, and stimulate to greater attention to the 
subject. It may, with propriety, be affirmed, that a 
judiciously-cultivated orchard of select fruit, if situated 



fKUiT TRE. i 1 

at a convenient distance from a large town or village, 
would yield an annual profit equal to any production 
of the industrious husbandman. An instance has been 
adduced, in the town of Dorchester, a few years since, 
of one hundred and sixty barrels of apples being pro- 
duced from less than two acres, the estimated value 
of which, including the grass mowed under the trees, 
is three hundred dollars per acre. In what branch of 
culture can the husbandman realize a more ample and 
gratifying reward for his labour and attention ? 

It is a circumstance encouraging to the cultivator, 
that, "in addition to the usual markets, a very consid- 
erable export has taken place lately to Europe, and 
that the flavour of our apples is highly estimated 
there." In every rural establishment, a fruit orchard 
should be considered an indispensable appendage, as a 
source of real emolument, and as contributing to health, 
pleasure, and recreation. It will be conceded, that, in 
the whole department of rural economy, there is not 
a more noble, interesting, and beautiful exhibition, 
than a fruit orchard, systematically arranged, while 
clothed with nature's foliage, and decorated with vari- 
egated blossoms perfuming the air, or when bending 
under a load of ripe fruit of many varieties. It is a^- 
mongthe excellences of a fruit orchard, that it affords 
a salubrious beverage, an adequate supply of which 
would have a happy tendency to diminish, if not su- 
persede, the consumption of ardent spirits, so destruc- 
tive to the health and moral character of our citizens. 
"The palate," says Mr. Knight, an English horticultu- 
ralist, "which relishes fruit, is seldom pleased with 
strong fermented liquors; and, as feeble causes, con- 
tinually acting, ultimately produce extensive effects, 
the supplying the publick with fruit, at a cheap rate, 
would have a tendency to operate favourably, both 
on the phjsical and moral health of the people." Jt 
*s presumable, that the period is not far distant, when 



12 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

the subject of horticulture will receive its merited at- 
tention, and the value and utility of fruit orchards be 
duly appreciated by all ranks of our citizens ; and it 
will be to me a source of pride and satisfaction, should 
these pages contribute, in any degree, to the promo- 
tion of the desirable object. The most eligible and 
approved method of propagating fruit trees, some ac- 
count of the numerous insects which infest and prey 
upon their vitals, with the various diseases to which 
they are liable, and which prove fatal to their exis- 
tence, and the best adapted remedies, will constitute 
the principal topicks of this undertaking. While phi- 
losophers pride themselves upon vain speculation, the 
practical farmer will be contented with plain facts, 
from whatever source derived. Leaving to others, 
therefore, the task of wandering in the perplexing 
mazes of theory, suffice it here to excite, in the or- 
chardist and farmer, the spirit of practical activity, 
and to stimulate by the lessons of attentive and intel- 
ligent men ; for "nature, in her teaching, speaks in 
very intelligible language, and that language is con- 
vej^ed by experience and observation." No apology 
will be urged for any inelegance of style, as perspicu- 
ity and brevity are conceived to be more acceptable 
requisites, in the view of the respectable cultivators 
of our soil, for whose use this little work is intended. 

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF APPLES. 

"In diseases of the breast, says Dr. Willich (Dom. 
Ency.) such as catarrhs, coughs, consumptions, &c. 
they are of considerable service. For these beneficial 
purposes, however, they ought not to be eaten raw, 
but either roasted, stewed, or boiled. They may also 
be usefully employed in decoctions, which, if drank 
plentifully, tend to abate febrile heat, as well as to re- 
lieve painful strictures in pectoral complaints. With 



OP FRUIT TREES. 13 

regard to their sensible properties, apples have been 
divided into spicy, acidulated, and watery. To the 
first class belong the various species of rennet, which 
possess a most delicate flavour, contain the least pro- 
portion of water, and, on account of their vinous na- 
ture, are not apt to excite flatulency. Pippins, on the 
contrary, though affording more nutriment than the 
former, are more fibrous, and, consequently, require a 
more vigorous stomach to digest them ; hence they 
should be ranked under the second class. Lastly, 
those sweet and tender apples which are very juicy 
and palatable, are the least fit to be eaten in a raw 
state, unless with the addition of bread or biscuit. 
When baked, or dried in the open air, they make an 
excellent substitute for raisins or plums, in puddings, 
pies, and other dishes prepared of flour. Sour apples 
may be much improved, both in taste and quality, by 
either baking or digesting them in a close vessel, by 
steam, over a slow fiie. Thus the saccharine princi- 
ple is disengaged, and they undergo a speedy and com- 
plete change." The honourable T. Pickering, in his 
address to the agricultural society, Essex county, ex- 
presses himself in the following language : "After pro- 
viding a due proportion of apples for the table and 
the ordinary purposes of cookery, I do not hesitate to 
express my opinion, that, for all other uses, sweet ap- 
ples are entitled to the preference. The best cider I 
ever tasted, in this country, was made wholly of sweet 
apples. They afford also a nourishing food to man 
and all domeslick animals. What furnishes a more 
delicious repast than a rich sweet apple baked and 
eaten in milk ? I recollect the observation made to 
me by an observing farmer, before the American rev- 
olution, that nothing would fatten cattle faster than 
sweet apples. Mentioning this, a few years since, to 
a gentleman of my acquaintance in an adjoining state, 
he informed me, that he was once advised to give 



14 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

sweet apples to a sick horse. Happening then to have 
them in plenty, the horse was served with them, and 
he soon got well, and, continuing to be fed with them, 
he fattened faster than any other horse that he had 
ever owned that was fed with any other food. Men- 
tioning to the same gentleman, what 1 had long before 
heard, that a good molasses might be made of sweet 
apples, he confirmed the fact by an instance within 
his own knowledge, &c. &c. The process is very 
simple. The apples being ground, and the juice ex- 
pressed at the cider mills, it is immediately boiled ; 
and the scum being taken off, the boiling is continued 
until the liquor acquires the consistence of molasses." 

Mr. Knight, an English gentleman, in his treatise 
on the apple and pear, says that the juice of these 
fruits might be used with great advantage on long voy- 
ages. He has frequently reduced it by boiling to the 
consistence of a weak jelly, and in this state it has re- 
mained several years without the slightest apparent 
change, though it has been intentionally exposed to 
much variation of temperature. A large quantity of 
the inspissated juice would occupy but a very small 
space ; and the add ition of a few pounds of it to a hogs- 
head of water would probably at any time form a good 
liquor similar to cider or perry. It might also, he 
thinks, be used to supply the place of rob of lemons 
and oranges, and might be obtained at a much lower 
price. 

I avail myself of the following appropriate sentence, 
in the language of one who has long been eminently 
distinguished for his numerous patriotick and amiable 
virtues.* 

"When we consider the various manners in which 
fruits are beneficial ; when we recollect the pleasure 

* See a letter on fruit trees, by a member of the Kennebeck 
agricultural society, published in papers on agriculture. Mass. 
society, 1804. 



©F FRUIT TREES. 15 

they afford to the senses, and the chaste and innocent 
occupation which they give in their cultivation ; when 
we consider the reputation which they communicate 
to a country in the eye of strangers, especially as af- 
fording a test of its climate and industry ; when we 
remember the importance of improving the beverage 
which they are intended to supply ; when it is calcu- 
lated under how many solid forms they may* be ex- 
ported (as dried, baked, and preserved, as well as in 
their natural state ;) and lastly, when we reflect upon 
the utility of giving to our rural labours a thoughtful 
turn, which is the best substitute now left, after having 
quitted our primeval state ; 1 say, when we consider 
these things, it will appear that the subject of fruits, 
which were the first earthly gift of Providence to man 
in his more favoured state, mav well continue to mer- 
it both the publick and individual attention." 

ORIGINAL STOCK. 

It is the opinion of botanists, "that the wilding, or 
erab-apph of the woods and hedges, is the original kind 
from the seeds of which the apple now cultivated was 
first obtained. The varieties of this species are mul- 
tiplied to some hundreds, in different places, all having 
been first accidentally procured from the seed or ker- 
nels of the fruit, and then increased by grafting upon 
crabs or other kinds of apple stocks*" (Dom. Ency.) 
The crab is still considered as a proper stock to re- 
ceive the grafts of the more valuable varieties, and is 
even preferred by some cultivators as being more 
hardy, better able to endure cold and coarse land ; and 
they also take firmer root, are of more rapid growth, 
and make larger trees. 

This tree may be found in forests, and other uncul- 
tivated places. Its stems and branches are armed with 
sharp thorns, and its fruit is small, and so extremely 



16 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

acrid and unpleasant, that it is not edible in its natural 
state. The following description by Mr. William 
Bartram, is copied from Mease's edition of the domes- 
■tick encyclopedia. "The pyrus coronaria, or native 
crab apple of North America, is not eaten, except when 
preserved in sugar, and in this state, they are deserv- 
edly esteemed as a great delicacy. The fruit is flat- 
tish, above one inch in diameter, yellow when ripe, 
or of the colour of polished brass, and possesses an 
agreeable fragrancy. Perhaps no tree presents a more 
gay appearance in the spring, when dressed in green, 
and with clusters of flowers of a most pleasing blush. 
The petals may be compared to flakes of white wax, 
faintly tinged with the finest carmine ; though some 
trees have flowers of a damask rose colour." The 
honourable Timothy Pickering, from long experience, 
observes, "to bring an orchard as early as possible into 
profit, plant common wild trees, or what are common- 
ly called crab apples, four or five years old. They 
should be cut down as soon as planted, and on their 
young shoots graft or inoculate such fruit as is desir- 
ed. From this practice, more fruit will be'obtained in 
ten years, than in the usual way in twenty years. 
The wild tree, if grafted on its own stock, will come 
much earlier to bearing fruit, and it will be improved 
both in size and flavour." 

CULTIVATED OR SEEDLING STOCKS. 

When the crab stock cannot be procured in suffic- 
ient quantity for the purpose of propagation, it be- 
comes necessary to resort to the expedient of culture 
from the seeds. Seedling stocks, which have a natu- 
ral tendency to attain the full height of the species to 
be grafted on them, are generally denominated free 
stocks. Every planter who is solicitous to keep an or- 
chard well stocked with fruit trees, should cultivate 



OF FRUIT TREES. 1? 

in a nursery his own free stocks, and graft for himself, 
that he may realize all the advantages to be derived 
from a knowledge of the soil and the peculiar proper- 
ties of his trees, and thereby avoid many impositions 
practised by ignorant and artful nursery-men. He 
will moreover be enabled to select such stocks for 
grafting, as experience shows to be best adapted to the 
soil and climate of his plantation, and which meet his 
own particular views. Trees raised from seed rarely 
produce the same species of fruit with that from which 
the kernels were taken, yet they are well adapted as 
stocks for grafting, and it occasionally happens that a 
new and valuable variety is thus produced, either for 
cider, or for the dessert. An accurate observer, Mr. 
Joseph Cooper, of New-Jersey, asserts, (Dom. Ency. 
Mease's edit.) that experience, for more than fifty 
years, has convinced him, that, although seedlings 
from apples will scarcely ever produce fruit exactly 
similar to the original, yet many of them will produce 
excellent fruit : some will even be superiour to the 
apples from which the seeds are taken. This fact has 
led him to plant seeds from the largest and best kinds 
of fruit, and from trees of a strong and rapid growth, 
and let all the young trees bear fruit before grafting, 
which produce uncommon strong shoots or a large 
rich- looking leaf. He has seldom known them fail 
of bearing fruit having some good quality; at all e- 
vents they make a stock to receive the grafts of any 
good kind which may present itself. Those sprouts 
or suckers which originate from the roots of ungrad- 
ed trees, if transplanted, will produce the-same kind 
of fruit with the parent stock, though trees thus prop- 
agated are very apt to generate suckers, and they do 
not come to a bearing state so soon by several years 
as engrafted trees. This was probably the mode of 
propagating fruit trees before the art of engrafting was 
discovered. Select fruit may be propagated in the 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

following manner: — Take a scion from a tree, the 
growth of the preceding year. Cut this scion into 
pieces of three or four inches in length, dip the ends 
in warm rosin or wax so as to prevent the sap issuing 
out — plant the pieces in a good moist soil. A number 
of shoots will spring up ; from these, select the most 
thrifty for growth ; lop down the remaining shoots 
and cover them well with earth, and in a short time 
they will become roots to nourish and hasten the 
growth of the thrifty shoots into trees. By this meth- 
od, select fruit, either apple or pear, maybe produced 
at least two years sooner than from ungrafted seedlings. 

BEST ADAPTED SOIL. 

The apple tree will thrive and flourish in many dif- 
ferent sorts of soil ; but a dry friable loam should prob- 
ably be preferred, as too much moisture is known to 
be injurious to the roots. Such soil as produces good 
crops of corn or grass, will, in general, afford the req- 
uisite and best adapted nutriment to apple or pear 
trees. The soil should not only be rich, but have 
a good depth, not less perhaps than two or three feet. 
It has been remarked as a fact, that, in each particular 
place, certain kinds of apples have been observed to 
succeed better than other kinds ; and, according to 
the observations of the honourable Timothy Picker- 
ing, many different sorts will flourish on an acre of 
ground, when the same number of one sort would 
starve. When, therefore, the cultivator has discover- 
ed the varieties most congenial to the soil and situa- 
tion he occupies, it should be his endeavour to encour- 
age them, by multiplying the grafts on his unproduc- 
tive trees, or by forming new additional trees by 
grafting on other stocks. 



OF F'Rl'iT TREES. 
PRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES. 

The apple tree does not enjoy indefinite longevity* 
Each species has its periods of infancy, youth, matu- 
rity, and decrepit age ; and, in process of time, it is 
totally annihilated ; nor is it in the power of art to 
protract its existence beyond its limited duration. 
Hence we frequently hear the complaint, that many 
varieties of apple, formerly held in high estimation, 
are no longer to be obtained, having entirely run out r 
as it is termed. The seeds of apples, however, contain 
the germ of an infinite variety of fruit. New varie- 
ties, and some of excellent quality, are continually 
produced from seeds. The famous winter pippin was 
the spontaneous production from a seed at Newtown, 
Long Island. But there is no dependence upon ob- 
taining a particular variety by planting the seeds. 
"A hundred seeds of the golden pippin will all produce 
fine large-leaved apple trees, bearing fruit of consider- 
able size ; but the tastes and colours of the apple from 
each will be different, and none will be the same in 
kind with those of the pippin itself. Some will be 
sweet, some bitter, some sour, some mawkish, some 
aromatick, some yellow, some green, some red, some 
streaked." The seeds for planting, should always be 
selected from the most highly cultivated fruit, and the 
fairest and ripest specimen of such variety. In some 
instances, a new and valuable variety may thus be ob- 
tained, and the seedlings will afford some indication 
of their future produce, even before they attain to 
their bearing state. The larger and thicker the leaves 
of a seedling, and the more expanded its blossoms, the 
more likely it is to produce a good variety of fruit. 
Short-leaved trees should never be selected, for these 
approach nearer to the original standard ; whereas 
the other qualities indicate the influence of cultivation. 
Every fruit tree must attain to a certain age before it 



20 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

can bear fruit. An apple tree from the seed requires 
to be twelve or fifteen years old before it will produce 
fruit in perfection ; but a method will be hereafter de- 
scribed by which particular branches may be forced 
to produce blossoms and fruit at an earlier period, and 
their quality sooner ascertained. 

The following are the sentiments of Mr. Knight, 
an experienced English horticulturalist, (Edin. Ency. 
Amer. edit, article horticulture.) All the extensions, 
he observes, by means of grafts and buds, must natu- 
rally partake of the qualities of the original. Where 
the original is old, there must be inherent in the de- 
rivatives the tendency to decay incident to old age. 
It is not to be understood, however, that a graft can- 
not survive the trunk from which it was 'taken : this 
would be deemed absurd. It may indeed be assumed 
as a fact, that a variety or kind of fruit, such as the 
golden pippin or the ribston, is equivalent only to an 
individual. By careful management the health and 
life of this individual may be prolonged ; and grafts 
placed on vigorous stocks and nursed in favourable 
situations, may long survive the parent plant or orig- 
inal ungrafted tree. Still there is a progress to ex- 
tinction, and the only renewal of an individual, the 
only true reproduction, is by seed. As the production 
of new varieties of fruit from the seed, is a subject 
which now very much occupies the attention of hor- 
ticulturalists, it may be proper here to state the pre- 
cautions adopted by Mr. Knight and others in con- 
ducting their trials. It is in the first place a rule to 
take the seeds of the finest kinds of fruit, and from the^ 
ripest, largest and best flavoured specimens of that 
fruit. When Mr. K. wished to procure some of the 
old apples in a healthy and renovated state, he adopt- 
ed the following method : He prepared stocks of the 
best kind of apple that could be propagated by cut- 
tings, and planted them against a south wall in a wery 



OF FRUIT TREES. 21 

rich soil. These were next } x ear grafted with the 
stire, golden pippin, or some other fine old kind. In 
the course of the following winter the young tree? 
were dug up, and the roots being retrenched, they 
were replanted in the same place. By this mode of 
treatment they were thrown into bearing at two years 
old. One or two apples were allowed to remain on 
each tree : these consequently attained a large size, a 
more perfect maturity. The seeds from these fruits, 
Mr. K. then sowed, in the hope of procuring seedlings 
possessed of good or of promising qualities ; and these 
hopes have not been disappointed. In order to pro- 
duce a hybrid variety, possessing perhaps a union of 
the good properties of two kinds, Mr. K. had recourse 
to the nice operation of dusting the pollen of one va- 
riety upon the pistils of another. He opened the 
unexpanded blossom, and cut away, with a pair of fine 
pointed scissors, all the stamina, taking great care to 
leave the styles and stigmata uninjured. The fruit 
which resulted from this artificial impregnation were 
the most promising of any, and the seeds of these he 
did not fail to sow. Every seed, though taken from 
the same individual fruit, furnishes a distinct variety. 
These varieties, as might be anticipated, prove of very 
different merits ; but to form a general opinion of 
their value, it is not necessary to wait till they pro- 
duce fruit : an estimate may be formed, even during 
the first summer, by the resemblance the leaves bear 
to those of the highly cultivated or approved trees, or 
to those of the wild kinds. The more they approach 
to the former, the better is the prospect. The leaves 
of good kinds improve in character, becoming thicker,, 
rounder, and more downy every season. The plants 
whose buds in the annual wood are full and prominent, 
are usually more productive than those whose buds 
are small and shrunk into the bark. But their future 
character, as remarked by Mr. K. must depend very 

a 



22 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

much on the power the blossoms possess of bearing 
cold ; and this power is observed to vary in the dif- 
ferent varieties, and can only be ascertained by expe- 
rience. Those which produce their leaves and blos- 
soms early are preferable, because, although more ex- 
posed to injury by frosts, they are less liable to the 
attacks of caterpillars. It is also to be observed, that" 
even after a seedling tree has begun to produce fruit, 
the quality of this has a tendency to improve as the 
tree itself becomes stronger and approaches maturity ; 
so that if a fruit possess any promising qualities at 
first, great improvement may be expected in succeed- 
ing years. 

A precaution is suggested, by the honourable T. 
Pickering, that apple trees, bearing bad or ordinary 
fruit, should not be suffered to grow with those which 
bear fruit of a superiour quality. It is a fact, with 
which gardeners are familiar, that the blossoms of cu- 
cumbers will greatly injure the flavour of melons that 
grow near them ; and it is reasonable to suppose that 
fruits, while forming on the trees, are liable in like 
manner to suffer deterioration. The result of the 
following experiment would seem to strengthen the 
above conjecture. The experiment, it is said, has in 
numerous instances succeeded, without a single failure. 
In an orchard, containing a great variety of apple 
trees 1 bearing sweet, and some very acrid fruit, and 
others partaking of both these properties, in the ver- 
nal season, when the trees are in full blossom, the 
pollen (or impregnating dust) was taken from one 
tree, (for example, where the fruit is very sweet,) and 
deposited on the flowers of a particular branch of a- 
nother tree, whose fruit is extremely acrid. The ap- 
ples of that particular branch were found to combine 
these two properties for that season ; and by this sim- 
ple process, the experimenter asserts, he can easily 
provide himself with apples, for that season, perfectly 



OF FRUIT TREES. 23 

to his taste, which he considers much more expedi* 
tious and equally as certain a process as that of graft- 
ing. 

An account of a singular apple tree, producing- fruit of opposite 
qualities ; a part of the same appie being- frequently sour, and 
the other sweet : in a letter from the Reverend Peter Whit- 
ney, published in the memoirs of the American academy of 
arts and sciences, vol. 1. 

"There is now growing, in an orchard lately be- 
longing to my honoured father, the reverend Aaron 
Whitney, of Petersham, deceased, an apple tree very 
singular with respect to its fruit. The apples are fair^ 
and when fully ripe, of a yellow colour, but evidently 
of different tastes — sour and sweet. The part which 
is sour is not very tart, nor the other \ery sweet. 
Two apples, growing side by side on the same limb, 
will be often of these different tastes ; the one all sour, 
and the other all sweet. And, which is more remark- 
able, the same apple will frequently be sour one side, 
end, or part, and the other sweet, and that not in any 
order or uniformity ; nor is there any difference in 
the appearance of one part from the other. And as 
to the quantity, some have more of the acid and less 
of the sweet, and so vice versa. Neither are the ap- 
ples, so different in their tastes, peculiar to any par- 
ticular branches, but are found promiscuously, on ev- 
ery branch of the tree. The tree stands almost in the 
midst of a large orchard, in a rich and strong soil, and 
was transplanted there forty years ago. There is no 
appearance of the trunk, or any of the branches, hav- 
ing been engrafted or inoculated. It was a number 
of years after it had borne fruit, before these different 
tastes were noticed ; but, since they were first discov- 
ered, which is about twenty years, there has been, 
constantly, the same variety in the apples. For the 
truth of what I have asserted, I can appeal to many 



24 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

persons of distinction, and of nice tastes, who have 
travelled a great distance to view the tree, and taste 
the fruit ; but to investigate the cause of an effect, so 
much out of the common course of nature, must, I 
think, be attended with difficulty. The only solu- 
tion that I can conceive is, that the corcula, or hearts 
of two seeds, the one from a sour, the other from a 
.sweet apple, might so incorporate in the ground as to 
produce but one plant ; or that farina from blossoms 
of those opposite qualities, might pass into and im- 
pregnate the same seed. If you should think the ac- 
count I have given you of this singular apple tree will 
be acceptable to the American academy, please to 
communicate it. 

"I am, &c. Peter Whitney." 

ENGRAFTED FRUITS NOT PERMANENT. 

Mr. Bucknal, an ingenious English writer, has fa- 
voured the publick with some highly valuable and 
interesting observations on the subject of engrafted 
fruit trees, of which the following is an abstract, from 
Dom. Ency. Mease's edit. vol. v. p. 192. 

Engrafted fruits, Mr. Bucknal asserts, are not per- 
manent. Every one, of the least reflection, must see 
that there is an essential difference between the pow- 
er and energy of a seedling plant and the tree which 
is to be raised from cuttings or elongations. The 
seedling, is endued with the energies of nature, while 
the graft, or scion, is nothing more than a regular 
elongation, carried, perhaps, through the several re- 
peatings of the same variety ; whereas the seed, from 
having been placed in the earth, germinates, and be- 
comes a new plant, whenever nature permits like to 
produce like in vegetation. Engrafted fruits are 
doomed by nature to continue for a time, and then 
gradually decline, till at last the variety is totally lost, 



OF FRUIT TREES. c 25 

and soon forgotten, unless recorded by tradition, or in 
old publications. From the attention lately paid to 
the culture of engrafted fruits, we are now enabled to 
continue a supposed happily acquired tree, for a much 
longer duration, than if such variety had been left in 
the state of unassisted nature ; perhaps a duration as 
long again, or something more. But there is no di- 
rect permanency, because the kernels, within the 
fruit, which are the seed of the plants for forming the 
next generation of trees, will not produce their like. 
They may do so accidentally ; but nothing more can 
be depended on. For example, suppose we take ten 
kernels, or pips, of any apple raised on an engrafted 
stock : sow them, and they will produce ten different 
varieties, no two of which will be alike, nor will ei- 
ther of them closely resemble the fruit from which 
the seeds were collected. The leaves also, of those 
trees raised from the same primogeneous or parent 
stock, will not actually be a copy of the leaves of any 
one of the varieties or family, to which each is con- 
nected by a vegetable consanguinity. In choosing the 
seed, that apple is likely to produce the clearest and 
finest plants, whose kernels are firm, large, and well 
ripened. The size of the fruit is not to be legarded ; 
for large apples do not alwaj^s ripen well, or rather, 
for cider, the small fruits are generally preferred, for 
making the strongest and highest-flavoured liquor. 
Should no valuable apples be raised from this process, 
the seedlings will make excellent stocks to engraft 
upon. In attempting to acquire new varieties, all the 
\oung plants, from the bed of apple quick, whose ap- 
pearance is in the least degree, promising, should be 
selected and planted together, at such a distance, as 
to allow each to produce its fruit, which will happen 
in about from twelve to fifteen years, though Mr. 
Knight had two plants bearing fruit at six, and one at 
five years. Mr. Bucknal mentions one variety of ap*- 
*3 



26 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

pie, within his knowledge, which he supposes to be 
one hundred and forty years old ; and a pear tree, 
supposed to be two hundred years old. It is an un- 
doubted fact, and worthy of observation, that all the 
different trees, of the same variety, have a wonderful 
tendency to similarity of appearance among them- 
selves ; and that the parent stock, and all engrafted 
from it, have a greater resemblance to each other, 
than can be found in any part of the animal creation ; 
and this habit does not vary to any extent of age. 
Whatever is said here respecting the apple, is equally 
applicable to the pear tree. Some years ago, from 
due investigation and thorough conviction, Mr. B. 
propagated the principle, that all the grafts, taker* 
from the first tree or parent stock, or any of the de- 
scendants, will for some generations thrive ; but when 
this first stock shall, by mere dint of old age, fall into 
actual decay, a nihility of vegetation, the descendants, 
however young, or in whatever situation they may 
be, will gradually decline ; and, from that time, it 
would be imprudent, in point of profit, to attempt 
propagating that variety from any of them. This is the 
dogma which must be received as undoubtedly true. 
From the time the kernel germinates for apple quick, 
should the plant be disposed to form a valuable varie- 
ty, there will appear a regular progressive change or 
improvement in the organization of the leaves, until 
that variety has stood and grown sufficient to blossom 
and come to full bearing ; that is, from the state of in- 
fancy to maturity ; and it is this and other circum- 
stances, by which the inquisitive eye is enabled to 
form the selection, among those appearing likely to 
become valuable fruits. But from that time, the new 
variety, or select plant, being compared with all the 
engraftments which may be taken from it, or any of 
them, these shall show a most undeviating sameness 
among themselves. The different varieties of fruit 



OP FRUIT TREES. 2tf 

are easily distinguished from each other bj many par- 
ticulars ,• not only their general fertility, and the 
form, size, shape and iiavour of the fruit, but also the 
manner of the growth of the tree, the thickness and 
proportion of the twigs, their shooting from the pa- 
rent stem, the form, colour, and consistence of the 
leaf, and many other circumstances by which the va- 
riety can be identified ; and were it possible to en- 
graft each variety on the same stock, they would still 
retain their discriminating qualities with the most 
undeviating certainty. Further, if twenty different 
varieties were placed together, so that each could re- 
ceive its nurture from the same stem, they would 
gradually die off in actual succession, according to the 
age or state of health of the respective variety at the 
time the scions were placed in the stock ; and a dis- 
criminating eye, used to the business, would nearly be 
able to foretell the order in which each scion would 
actual decline. Should it also happen that two or 
three suckers, from the wilding stock, had been per- 
mitted to grow among the twenty grafts, such suckers, 
or wilding shoots, would continue, and make a tree 
after all the rest are gone. A further consequence 
would result from the experiment. Among such a 
number of varieties, each of the free growers would 
starve the delicate, and drive them out of existence 
only so much the sooner. It must be observed, that 
this supposed stem is the foster parent to the twenty 
scions, and real parent to the suckers ; and those least 
conversant with engrafted fruits know the advantage 
acquired by this circumstance. By an experiment, 
says Mr. B. we have had in hand for five years, it 
will appear, that the roots and stem of a large tree, 
after the first set of scions are exhausted or worn out, 
may carry another set for many years ; and we sus- 
pect a third set, provided engrafting is properly done, 
ai*d the engrafter chooses a new variety. To express 



23 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

the concluding sentiments of Mr. B. in a few words, 
he maintains, that the different varieties of the apple 
will, after a certain time, decline and actually die 
away, and each variety, or all of the same stem or 
family, will lose their existence in vegetation ; yet,- 
after the debility of age has actually taken possession 
of any variety, and the vital principle is nearly ex- 
hausted, a superiour care and warmth will still keep 
the variety in existence some time longer. This, he 
observes, is an abstruse subject, very little understood, 
and requiring at first some degree of faith, observa- 
tion and perseverance. Mr. B. is fully convinced 
that we have the power of multiplying a single varie- 
ty, to whatever number we please ; and although 
these trees may amount to millions, yet, on the death 
of the primogeneous or parent stock, merely from old 
age or nihility of growth, each individual shall de- 
cline, in whatever country they may be, or however 
endued with j'outh and health. Nothing sublunary, 
which possesses either animal or vegetable life, is ex- 
empt from age and death. To exemplify this point 
more intelligibly, let it be supposed that the Baldwin 
apple is a new variety produced from the seed. This, 
as the original stock, may continue to live one hun- 
dred years. A scion, taken from it when ten years 
old, may live ninety years ; another, taken ten years 
after, may enjoy a duration of eighty years ; and so 
progressively. At the expiration of one hundred or 
more years, the original stock, and all derivatives from 
it, will become extinct. 

METHOD OF FORCING FRUIT TREES TO BLOSSOM AND 
BEAR FRUIT. 

With a sharp knife, cut a ring round the limb or 
small branch which you wish should bear, near the 
stem or large bough where it is joined ; let this ring 



OF FRUIT TREES. 29 

or cut penetrate to the wood. A quarter of an inch 
from this cut, make a second like the first, encircling 
the branch like a ring a quarter of an inch broad be- 
tween the two cuts. The bark, between these two 
cuts, must be removed, clean down to the wood ; even 
the fine inner bark, which lies immediately upon the 
wood, must be scraped away, until the bare naked 
wood appears, white and smooth, so that no connex- 
ion whatever remains between the two parts of the 
bark. This barking, or girdling, must be made at the 
precise time when, in all nature, the buds are strongly 
swelling, or about breaking out into blossoms. In 
the same year a callus is formed at the edge of the 
ring, on both sides, and the connexion of the bark is 
again restored, without any detriment to the tree or 
the branch operated upon. By this simple operation, 
the following advantages will be obtained : 1. Every 
young tree, of which you do not know the sort, is 
compelled to show its fruit, and decide sooner wheth- 
er it may remain in its present state, or requires to be 
grafted. 2. You may thereby, with certainty, get 
fruit of a good sort, and reject the more ordinary. 
The branches so operated upon, are hung full of fruit, 
while others, that are not ringed, often have none or 
very little on them. This effect is explained from 
the theory of the motion of the sap. As this ascends 
in the wood and descends in the bark, the above ope- 
ration will not prevent the sap rising into the upper 
part of the branch, but it will prevent its descending 
below this cut, by which means it will be retained in 
and distributed through the upper part of the branch 
in a greater portion than it could otherwise be, and 
the branch and fruit will both increase in size much 
more than those that are not thus treated. The. twist- 
ing of a wire or tying a strong thread round a branch 
has been often recommended as a means of making it 
bear fruit. In this case, as in ringing the bark, the 



CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

descent of the sap in the bark must be impeded above 
the ligature, and more nutritive matter is consequent- 
ly retained, and appiied to the expanding parts. The 
wire or ligature may remain in the bark. Mr. Knight's 
theory, on the motion of sap in trees, is "that the sap 
is absorbed from the soil by the bark of the roots, and 
carried upward by the alburnum of the root, trunk 
and branches ; that it passes through the central ves- 
sels into the succulent matter of the annual shoots, 
the leaf-stalk and leaf; and that it is returned to the 
bark through certain vessels of the leaf-stalk, and de- 
scending through the bark, contributes to the process 
of forming the wood. A writer in the American Far- 
mer says, he tried the experiment of ringing some 
apple, peach, pear, and quince trees on small limbs, 
say from an inch to an inch and a quarter in diame- 
ter. The result was, the apples, peaches and 
pears were double the size on those branches 
than on any other part of the trees : in the quinces 
there was no difference. One peach, the heath, 
measured, on a ringed limb, in circumference, llj 
inches round, and llf inches round the ends, and 
weighed 15 ounces. The limbs above the ring have 
grown much larger than below it. If the ring be 
made so wide that the bark cannot unite the same 
season, the branch will perish. 

NURSERY. 

It has been a received opinion, that the soil for a 
nursery should not be made rich, as the plants, when 
removed to a more fertile soil, will flourish more lux- 
uriantly ; but later observation has decided that the 
reverse of this will be found correct. There is a 
close analogy between vegetable and animal life ; and 
it is a dictate of nature that both require a full supply 
t>f nutriment from their earliest existence. It would 



Or FRUIT TREES. 

be absurd to suppose that the tender roots of young 
seedlings are capable of drawing sufficient nutriment 
from a rank, barren, and uncultivated soil, and those 
that are barely supported, or nearly starved at first, 
will never afterwards become vigorous, stately and 
handsome, though surrounded by the richest mould. 
Repeated experiments have proved that a strong and 
vigorous plant, that has grown up quickly, and arriv- 
ed at a considerable magnitude in a short time, never 
fails to grow better after transplanting, than another 
of the same size that is older and stinted in its growth. 
Where the soil is poor and lean, trees in every stage 
of growth, are observed to be languid, weak, and stint- 
ed ; while those reared in a good mellow soil always 
assume a free growth, and advance with strength and 
vigour. It is evident, therefore, that the ground to 
be occupied for a fruit nursery, requires to be made 
rich and fertile. The soil should also be deep, well 
pulverized, and cleared of all roots and weeds. The 
seeds may be sown either in autumn or April, and in 
one year after, the young plants may be taken up and 
replanted in the nursery. It is important that the 
situation be such as to admit of a free circulation of 
air, and open to the sun, that the plants may be pre- 
served in a healthy condition. Plants reared in a con- 
fined and shaded situation in a large town, and re- 
moved to an open exposure in the country, will long 
continue in a debilitated condition ; like a puny city 
invalid, their growth will be greatly impeded, and 
many years will elapse before they attain to a state of 
vigour, health, and hardihood. 

From the observations in the preceding pages, it is 
obviously important, that the seed, to be planted in 
nurseries, should be selected from fruit of a superiour 
quality. John Kenrick, esquire, of Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, has, however, adopted the following method. 
Take the pumice from late-made cider, separate the 



32 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

seeds by means of a riddle sieve, mix them with a 
quantity of rich loam sifted fine ; put this into a box 
and expose it to the weather during winter. In April, 
the earth and seeds are put into a basket, and washed 
until the seeds are separated, when they are planted 
in a naturally rich soil, thoroughly pulverized, and 
well prepared with rotten manure and leached ashes. 
The seeds are planted in straight, parallel rows, three 
feet apart, and about two inches deep ; the plants, if 
too thick, may be thinned to about six inches apart, 
by pulling up the feeblest. The plants should be kept 
clear of weeds, annually manured, and properly prun- 
ed. Young trees should be effectually secured from 
sheep and horned cattle, in every stage of their 
growth. 

In Marshall's Rural Economy it is directed, that the 
seedling plants, when taken from the seed bed, be 
sorted agreeably to the strength of their roots, that 
they may rise evenly together. The tap, or large bot- 
tom root, should be taken off, and the longer side root- 
lets should be shortened. The young plants should 
then be set in rows, three feet apart, and from fifteen 
to eighteen inches asunder, in the rows; care being 
taken not to cramp the roots, but to bed them evenly 
and horizontally among the mould. In strictness of 
management, they ought, two years previous to their 
being transferred to the orchard, to be transplanted 
into unmanured double dug ground, four feet every 
way apart, in order that the feeding fibres may be 
brought so near the stem, that they may be removed 
with it into the orchard, instead of being, as they gen- 
erally are, left behind in the nursery. Hence, in this 
second transplanting, as in the fi^st, the branches of 
the root should not be left too long, but ought to be 
shortened in such a manner as to induce them to form 
a regular globular roof, sufficiently small to be remov- 
ed with all their plants, yet sufficiently large to 



OF FRUIT TREES, 33 

give it firmness and vigour in the plantation. It is 
reported, that the agricultural society of Nova Scotia 
has found, by experience, that apple trees, raised from 
seeds, if transplanted from the seed bed, in time, (hav- 
ing the tap root cut off,) may be rendered fit for graft- 
ing one or two seasons earlier than if left in the place 
where the seeds were sown. While in the nursery 
bed, the young plants require to be frequently hoed ; 
the earth should be kept loose, and entirely free from 
weeds ; and, in a very dry season, they should be oc- 
casionally watered. When two years old, they will 
be in a proper condition to receive the scions, or buds, 
which are intended for them, as the operation is then 
more easy and certain than when the stocks are older. 

ENGRAFTING. 

The art of engrafting has not, it is believed, been 
traced to its origin. In a treatise published by Park, 
inson, in 1 629, both grafting and inoculating are men- 
tioned, but the period when the practice commenced 
has not been ascertained. The great utility and ad- 
vantage of the art is, however, universally understood. 
According to Mr. Yates, (letter published in Forsyth's 
treatise.) the art was introduced into America by Mr. 
Prince, a native of New-York, who established a nur- 
sery in its neighbourhood about sixty years ago. 
Fruit trees, which are grafted or inoculated, come in- 
to a bearing state several years sooner than those 
produced from seed ; besides, grafted or inoculated 
trees invariably produce the same kind of fruit as the 
parent tree from which the scion or bud is taken, 
while that from seedling trees is liable to sport in 
endless varieties. In the choice of scions for grafting, 
the first essential requisite is, that they are of the 
same genus and natural family with the stock which 
is to become their foster parent, and which is to afford 
4 



$4 CULTURE AND MANAG&SMEN ¥ 

them future nourishment and support. The apple 
cannot be advantageously engrafted on a pear stock, 
nor will a pear succeed well on an apple stock ; for, 
although it may flourish and bear fruit for a few 
years, it will never prove a profitable tree, and will 
decline and decay sooner than others. Scions from 
a winter apple tree should not be grafted on a summer 
apple stock, because the sap in the sumi/ier stock 
is liable to decline and diminish before the winter 
fruit has become fully ripe. In the memoirs ot the 
American academy of arts and sciences, volume 1, page 
388, is a communication from the late honourable B.- 
Lincoln, relative to the engrafting of fruit trees, &c. 
in which he says, "I had observed, for a number of 
years, an apple tree in my orchard, the natural fruit of 
which was early, having been grafted with a winter 
scion, producing fruit very like in appearance to the 
fruit produced by the tree whence the scion was tak- 
en but destitute of those qualities inherent in that 
fruit, and necessary to its keeping through the winter. 
This led me to call in question the propriety of graft- 
ing winter fruit on a summer stock," &c. A pear is 
occasionally engrafted on a quince, for the purpose of 
dwarf trees, but it is of smaller growth, and less vig- 
orous and durable than if nourished' by its more nat- 
ural parent. It is next important, that scions be tak- 
en from trees that have attained to the maturity of 
full bearing. Perhaps cultivators, in general, are not 
apprized of the fact, that, if a scion be taken from a 
seedling tree of one or two years old, it will retain the 
character and undergo the same annnal change as the 
seedling tree itself, whatever be the age of the stock 
into which it is inserted ; and that it will remain un- 
productive of fruit, until the seedling tree has acquir- 
ed its proper age and maturity. It is strongly to be 
suspected, that nursery men, either from ignorance or 
indifference, have disregarded this circumstance, and 



OF FRUIT TREES. 35 

imposed upon purchasers trees of this description, b^- 
which their just expectations have been disappointed. 
Scions if they are to be transported to a distance may 
be cut at any time from January to March, before the 
buds begin to swell ; and in order to preserve them in 
good condition for grafting, their cut ends should be 
covered with grafting clay or wax, or the whole scion 
may be- enveloped in swamp moss. But experience is 
decidedly in favour of taking the scions immediate^ 
from the tree at the time they are to be employed, if 
convenient. Scions should always be taken from the 
extremities of the most thrifty and best bearing trees, 
and of the last year's growth, except only just enough 
of the growth of the year before to fix in the earth, to 
preserve them moist until they are to be used. In 
the Edinburgh encyclopedia it is advised to cut the 
scions several weeks before the season for grafting ar- 
rives ; the reason is. that experience has shown, that 
grafting may most successfully be performed, by al- 
lowing the stock to have some advantage over the 
graft in forwardness of vegetation. It is desirable, 
that the sap of the stock should be in brisk motion at 
the time of grafting ; but by this time, the buds of 
the scion, if left on the tree, would be equally advanc^ 
ed ; whereas the scions, being gathered early, the busls 
are kept back, and ready only to swell out, when the 
graft is placed on the stock. The selecting proper 
scions, the writer observes, is a matter of the greatest 
importance, if we wish to enjoy the full advantage 
which may be derived from grafting. They should 
be taken from a healthy tree in full bearing, and from 
the outer side of the horizontal branches of such a 
tree, where the wood has freely enjoyed the benefits 
of sun and air. It should be remarked that a scion 
taken from a full bearing tree and inserted into a tree 
having attained to the maturity of bearing, will ma- 
ture fruit sootner than if the same scion is inserted intd 



3S - CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

a seedling stock. It may be be best to take but one 
scion from the same twig, cutting off its extremity 
when to be inserted, as the middle part affords the 
best graft ; leaving only two or three eyes or buds. 
If the scion be too long, it requires more time for the 
ascending sap to reach its extreme end, and it will be 
more liable to fail. The most proper season for graft- 
ing in our climate, is from about the 20th of March to 
the 1st of June, though the operation has succeeded 
well as late as July, when scions may be taken directly 
from the tree ; and when the first grafting has failed, 
the operation may be repeated the same season by 
cutting the stock a little lower. Practical gardeners, 
it is said, concur, in stating, that the nature of fruit is, 
to a certain extent, affected by the nature of the stock. 
Crab stocks, for example, cause apples to be firmer, 
to keep longer, and to have a sharper flavour. Mr. 
S. Cooper, of New-Jersey, expresses himself as fol- 
lows, on this subject : (Dom. Ency. Mease's edit.) "I 
have, in numerous instances, seen the stock have great 
influence on the fruit grafted thereon, in respect to 
bearing, size, and flavour, and also on the durability 
of the tree, particularly in the instance of a number 
of Vandevere apple trees ; the fruit of which was so 
subject to the bitter rot as to be of little use. They 
were engrafted fifty years ago, and ever since those of 
them having tops composed of several different kinds, 
though they continue to be more productive of fruit 
than any others in my orchard, yet are subject to the 
bitter rot, the original and well known affection of the 
fruit of the primitive stock. I have had frequent op- 
portunities of observing the same circumstance, in 
consequence of receiving many scions from my friends, 
which, after bearing, I engrafted, and the succeeding 
fruit uniformly partook, in some degree, of the quali- 
ties of the former, even in their disposition to bear an- 
nually or biennally." Mr. C. has ascertained the 



X)F FRUIT TREES. 37 

fact that early and late apples, by being grafted on 
the same tree, improved in size and flavour more than 
if but one kind grew on a tree. It should be observ- 
ed, as a rule, nevei to employ suckers from old trees 
as stocks for grafts, or buds, as they have a constant 
tendency to generate suckers, and thereby injure the 
growth of the tiees. 

MODES OF GRAFTING. 

The mode of performing this operation is varied, 
according to the size and situation of the stock to be 
employed. The small stocks in the nursery, if of 
such kind as produce an erect strong stem, are usually 
grafted within or near the surface of the earth, in 
which case, the mould is brought round them in the 
form of a little hillock, and nothing more is required. 
When the stock is naturally inclined to branch out 
horizontally, the preferable mode is to insert the bud 
or graft high enough to form a handsome head or top. 
In this mode of operating, it is necessary to employ 
some kind of composition or covering in order to se- 
cure from injury by the w r eather, or influence of the 
sun. The following is commonly used : A quantity 
of clay or stiff loam is to be worked fine and mixed 
with coarse horse-dung. It should be prepared a day 
or two before hand, and be beat up with a little water 
as needed. This should be applied closely round the 
parts in the form of a collar, or ball, tapering at both 
ends, the upper end being applied close!) to the graft, 
and the under to the stock. The following composi- 
tions are preferred by some operators: — Three pints 
of tar, one pound beeswax, melted together, and while 
cooling stir in one pound of red or yellow ochre. 
Or another — Four parts rosin, two parts beeswax, and 
one part tallow, melted together. This may be warm- 

ed and spread on narrow strips of rag or paper, and 

*4 



38 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

carefully wound round the stock and scion. A com- 
mon sod applied with the grass side out is often em- 
ployed and seldom fails of answering every purpose. 
In grafting trees of considerable size, care should be 
taken not to cut off the whole head and branches at 
once, but leave some of the latteral branches to draw 
up the sap till another season, and cut them gradually, 
as occasion may require ; otherwise, in a hot and dry 
summer, the trees are apt to suffer and die. Care 
should also be taken to avoid loosening or injuring the 
bark of the stock, by dividing the bark with a sharp 
knife before splitting the stock. In shaping the 
acion for insertion, the slope should be cut full one 
inch or more in length; and by some we are advised 
to cut the scion in such manner as to take the bulge 
formed between the present and the last year's growth, 
to shape and set in the stock, as in that joint or bulge^ 
the wood is open and porous to receive more readily 
the sap from the stock. There are several different 
methods of performing the operation of grafting, in all 
which, it should be a general rule to adjust the inner 
bark of the stock and of the scion in close contact, 
and to confine them precisely in that situation. If 
this be accurately effected, all species of grafting will 
prove successful. In that method which is usually 
called whip-grafting, or tongue-grafting, the top of the 
stock and the extremity of the graft should be nearly 
of equal diameter. They are both to be sloped off a 
full inch or more, and then tied closely together. 
This method may be much improved, by performing 
what gardeners call tongaeing or lipping ; that is, by 
making an incision in the bare part of the stock, 
downwards, and a corresponding slit in the scion, up- 
wards ; after which they are to be carefully joined 
together, so that the barks of both may meet in every 
part, when a bandage of bass wood is to be tied round 
the scion, to prevent it from being displaced ; and 



OF FRUIT TREES* 3$ 

the whole is to be covered over with the composition. 
When the stocks to be grafted upon are from one to 
two or more inches in diameter, as branches of trees, 
deft-grafting is generally employed. The head of the 
stock or branch being carefully cut off in a sloping 
direction, a perpendicular cleft or slit is to be made, 
about to two inches deep, with a knife or chisel, to- 
wards the back of the slope, into which a wedge is to 
be driven, in order to keep it open for the admission 
of the scion. The latter must now be cut in a per- 
pendicular direction, and in the form of a wedge, so 
as to fit the incision in the stock. As soon as it is 
prepared, it should be placed in the cleft in such 
manner that the inner bark of both the stock and scion 
mav meet exactly together. It is then to be tied 
■with a ligature of bass, and clayed over, as is practis- 
ed in whip-grafting, three or four eyes being left in 
the scion uncovered. It should be observed, that in 
making the cleft in the stock, care should be taken 
not to injure the pith, the scions being inserted in the 
sap wood of the stock or branch. Old stocks may be 
grafted in the bark, called crozon-grafting, but this can- 
not be practised successfully till the sap be in full mo- 
tion, that the bark may be easily raised from the wood. 
The head of the stock or thick branch is cut off hori- 
zontally ; a perpendicular slit is made in the bark, as 
in budding ; a narrow ivory folder is thrust down be- 
tween the wood and the bark, in the places where 
the grafts are to be inserted. The graft is cut, at the 
distance of an inch and a half from its extremity, cir- 
cularly through the bark, not deeper than the bark on 
one side, but fully half way through or beyond the 
pith on the other. The grafts being pointed, and a 
shoulder left to rest on the bark of the stock, they are 
inserted into the openings, and either three or four 
grafts are employed, according to the size of the 
crown. Side-grafting is sometimes employed for sup- 



4$ CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

plying vacancies on the lower parts of full grown 
fruit trees. The bark and a little of the wood are 
sloped oft* for the space of an inch and a half, or two 
inches ; a siit is then made downwards, and a graft is 
tut to lit the part, with a tongue for the slit ; the parts, 
being properly joined, are tied close and clayed over. 
When stocks cannot readily be procured, root-grafting 
may be successfully employed. A piece of the root 
of a tree of the same genus, well furnished with fibres, 
is selected, and a graft placed on it, tied and clayed 
in the ordinary way. Thus united, they are set with 
care in a trench in the ground, the joining being cov- 
ered, but the top of the graft being left two inches 
above ground. 

"The following new mode of grafting," says Dr. 
Mease, (Dom. Ency.) "the late Mr. A. C. Du Plainc 
informed the editor, was long kept a secret in France. 
A limb of willow, three or four inches thick, was bu- 
ried in a trench deep enough to receive it, and at the 
distance of every four or five inches, holes were bor* 
ed, into which grafts were inserted, care being taken 
to make the bark of the graft, and the limb into which 
it was inserted touch ; the lower part of the graft was 
pointed and the bark shaved off. The limb and the 
grafts were then covered with earth and kept moist, 
and about two inches of the latter left above the sur- 
face. In process of time the lirnb rotted, and the 
grafts took root. The different grafts were then dug 
up and transplanted." In the same valuable publica- 
tion, Dr. Mease has communicated an account of the 
mode of Mr. William Fairman, of "exireme-b ranch graft- 
ing" upon old decayed trees, "which promises to be 
of a very great acquisition to those who take pleasure 
in cultivating fruit." The process is as follows : "Cut 
away all spray wood, and make the tree a perfect skel- 
eton, leaving all the healthy limbs ; then clean the 
branches, and cut the top of each off, where it would 



OF FRUIT TREES. 41 

measure in circumference from the size of a shilling 
to about that of a crown piece. Some of the branch- 
es must of course be taken off where thej' are a little 
larger, and some smaller, to preserve the canopy or 
head of the tree ; and it will be necessary to take out 
the branches which cross others, and observe the arms 
are left to fork off, so that no considerable opening is 
to be perceived when you stand under the tree,, but 
that they may represent a uniform head. When pre- 
paring the tree, leave the bianches sufficiently long to 
allow of two or three inches to be taken off by the 
saw, that all the splintered parts may be removed. 
The tree beinL' thus prepared, put in one or two grafts 
at the extremity of each branch, and put on the ce- 
ment or composition, and tie with bass or soft strings. 
Sever the shoots or suckers from the tree until the 
succeeding spring. To make good the deficiency in 
case some grafts do not succeed, additional grafts may 
be inserted in the sides of the branches, or where they 
are wanted to form the tree into a handsome shape." 
It too frequently happens that a considerable propor- 
tion of the scions inserted fail of taking effect, and we 
are disappointed in our expectations. There must be 
a cause for this failure. Too much heat and dryness 
in the atmosphere, or too much cold and moisture, 
may interrupt this vegetable process. If the scions 
are suffered to become dry and withered, their vital 
principle will be lost; if saturated with moisture, they 
cannot so readily imbibe the nutritious juice b}' which 
their union with the stock is cemented. Much de- 
pends on a proper coaptation of the barks of the stock 
and the scion, and the nature of the composition ap- 
plied, is not without its influence. When tar and 
turpentine are employed, their volatile oil, unless 
qualified by some admixture, is supposed to penetrate 
into the vessels of the scion, obstruct the circulation 
of the sap, and cause mortification. Among our re- 



42 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

cent improvements, it has been ascertained that 
grafting and budding may be successfully performed 
as late as August and the first part of September, pro- 
vided the weather should continue warm, taking the 
scions directly from the tree-; and the operation may 
be repeated in case of failure, on the same stock, 
several times in the season. If therefore, the scion 
should not manifest signs of active vegetation in ten 
or twelve days after being inserted, the stock may 
be again sawed down and a new scion introduced. 
Our chance of success may also be increased by a 
double process, that is, by introducing one or more 
buds into the same stock with the engrafted scion ; 
and these operations being occasionally repeated, we 
shall seldom fail of complete success. A bud taken 
from a scion or twig of the last year, if inserted in 
April, will immediately sprout and have the same ad- 
vantage as the engrafted scion. 

BUDDING, OR INOCULATING. 

By tlie process of budding, we obtain the same re- 
sult as in grafting ; with this difference, however, the 
bud being a shoot in embryo, grafted trees usually 
produce fruit two seasons earlier than budded trees. 
Each bud may be considered a distinct being, which 
will form a plant retaining precisely the peculiarities 
of the parent stock ; and five or six species of fruit may 
be budded on one tree, which, when attained to the 
maturity of bearing fruit, exhibit a singular and beau- 
tiful spectacle. Buds are formed at the bases of the 
foot stalks of the leaves, and are of two kinds, those 
which bear leaves, and those which bear flowers. 
The leaf buds arc small, long, and pointed ; the flower 
buds are thick, short, and round. Both leaves and 
flowers are sometimes produced by the same bud, and 
they are generally employed, in budding, without dis- 



OF FRUIT TREES. 4# 

tinction ; but the bud should always be of the same 
genus with the tree or branch which is to receive it. 
The blossom buds are formed by the first sap between 
April and June, and arc filled by the second sap be- 
tween July and October. The proper season for bud- 
ding, is from the beginning of July to the end of Sep- 
tember, at which period the buds for next year 
are completely formed in the axilla of the leaf of the 
present year, and they are known to be ready, from 
their easily parting from the wood. The buds pre* 
ferred, are the shortest observed on the middle of a 
young shoot, on the outside of a healthy and fruitful 
tree; on no account should an immature tree or a 
bad bearer, be resorted to for buds. For gathering 
the shoots containing the buds, a cloudy day, or an 
early or late hour, is chosen, it being thought that 
shoots, gathered in full sunshine, perspire so much as 
to drain the moisture from the buds. The buds should 
be used as soon after being gathered as possible, and 
the whole operation should be quickly performed. 
In taking off the bud from the twig, the knife is in- 
serted about half an inch above it, and a thin slice of 
the bark, and wood along with it, taken off, bringing 
out the knife about an inch and a half below the bud. 
This lower part is afterwards shortened and dressed, 
and the leaf is cut off, the stalk being left about half 
an inch long. Perhaps it is better to insert the knife 
three quarters of an inch below the bud, and to cut up- 
wards; at least, this mode is practiced in the Scottish 
nurseries. The portion of wood is then taken out by 
raising it from the bark, and pulling it downwards or 
upwards, according as the cut has been made from a- 
bove or below. If the extraction of the wood occasion 
a hole at the bud, that bud is spoilt, and another must 
be prepared in its steady as gardeners speak, the root 
of the bud has gone with the wood, instead of remain- 
ing with the bark* For the performance of the ope- 



44 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

ration, provide a sharp budding-knife, with a flat thin 
haft, of ivory, suitable to open the bark of the stock 
for the admission of the bud, and also with a quantity 
of bass strings, or shreds of Russian mats, or woollen 
yarn, to bind round it when inserted. On a smooth 
part of the bark of the stock a transverse section is 
made through the bark down to the wood ; from this 
is made a longitudinal cut downward, about an inch 
and a half long, so that the incision may somewhat 
resemble a Roman T ; by means of the flat ivory haft 
of the budding-knife the bark is raised a little on each 
side of the longitudinal incision, so as to receive the 
bud. The prepared bud is placed in the upper part 
of the incision so made, and drawn downwards ; the 
upper part is then cut off transversely, and the bud 
pushed upwards till the bark of the bud and of the 
stock join together. It is retained in this situation by 
means of tying with strands of bass, matting, or wool- 
len yarn, applied in such manner as to defend the 
whole from the air and sun, but leaving the leafstalk, 
and the projecting part of the bud, uncovered. In 
about ten or twelve clays after the operation, the ty- 
ing is slackened ; buds, that have taken, appear swell- 
ed, and the foot stalk of the old leaf falis off on being 
slightly touched. The head of the stock is not re- 
moved till the following March ; after this, the bud 
grows vigorously, and, in the course of the summer, 
makes a considerable shoot. Against the next spring 
the shoot is headed down in the manner of young 
grafted trees. 

Mr. Knight, the celebrated English horliculturalist, 
has adopted the following improved mode of budding, 
to accelerate the vegetating process in the young bud. 
In the month of June, when the buds are in a proper 
state, the operation is performed by employing two 
distinct ligatures to hold the buds in their places ; 
©ne ligature is first placed above the bud inserted, 



Of FftUlT TttlXS. 46 

and upon the transverse section through the bark ; 
the other, the only office of which is to secure the 
bud, is applied in the usual way ; as soon as the buds 
have attached themselves, the lower ligatures are tak- 
en off, but the others are suffered to remain. The 
passage of the sap upwards, is, in consequence, mucli 
obstructed, and the inserted buds begin to vegetate 
strongly in July; when these afford shoots about four 
inches long, the upper ligatures are taken off to per- 
mit the excess of sap to pass on ; the wood ripens 
well, and affords blossoms, sometimes, for the succeed- 
ing spring. It will be perceived, that instead of the 
usual mode of budding, after the commencement of 
the autumnal flow of sap, and keeping the bud with- 
out shooting until the following spring, when the top 
of the stock is cutoff; this improved mode gains a 
season in point of maturity, if not of growth, and has 
the effect of grafting the preceding spring, in all cases 
where the bud sprouts in proper time to form a strong 
shoot, capable of sustaining, without injury, the frost 
of the ensuing winter. A different method of mak- 
ing the incision into the stock is preferred by some. 
Instead of making a perpendicular cut downwards from 
the transverse incision, it may be reversed, rising up- 
wards so that the incision to receive the bud, resem- 
ble the capital reversed, thus, j, ; and the bud pushed 
upward to the position desired. By this method the 
bud being placed above the transverse cut, receives a 
greater abundance of the sap descending in the bark, 
than if placed below it. The fact is now decided by 
ample experience, that apple and pear trees, and prob- 
ably stone fruit also, may be successfully grafted or 
budded at any time after the sap rises, about the tenth 
of April to the middle of September; and that the 
operation, in case of failure, may be several times re- 
peated on the same stock during the season. For ear- 
ly budding, take the buds from cuttings, or scions from 
1 



46 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

bearing trees, in February or March, and preserve 
them in boxes of sand in a cellar, in the same manner 
as if intended for grafting, These may be preserved 
in a good condition for use, until June or July, and 
may be employed either for grafting or budding as 
may be preferred. The process of budding 1 hold in 
preference to that of grafting ; it is neater and may be 
performed with more facility, and more certainty of 
taking effect, and when the buds are taken from a sci- 
on of the last year's growth, it will, if the season prove 
favourable, shoot two or three feet in length before 
winter, and will produce fruit as soon as if grafted. 
Not only young stocks, but the branches of large trees 
maybe budded successfully. In order to render the 
operation the more certain, we may avail ourselves of 
a double advantage by inserting in the month of April 
both scions and buds into the same stock; and if found 
necessary, the operation may be repeated every ten 
or twelve days, until the new buds formed in July and 
August are sufficiently matured to be employed. 
These buds should be taken from the best grown shoots 
of the present year, selecting those that are well form* 
ed, large and plump ;but these will be one year long- 
er in producing fruit. In about eight or ten days the 
wrapping strings should be loosened, and if the buds 
have not effected a union in that time, they will in 
general entirely fail ; and if the buds, instead of being 
fresh and plump, then appear of a dark colour, shrunk, 
and withered, the stocks should be immediately re- 
budded. Instead of Mr. Knight's method, by a strong 
ligature above the inserted bud, to force a supply of 
sap, another advocate for early budding has adopted 
a mode which will be preferred by some as being more 
natural and simple. (New Eng. Farmer, vol. 1, p. 
146.) So soon as it can be ascertained that the bud 
will live, which he says may be in about a week, if 
\he stock be small let it be instantly headed down just 



©P FRUIT TREES. 4-? 

above the bud to be nourished. If the stock be large* 
amputate the principal branches ; and the consequence 
will be an immediate bursting of all the latent buds, 
together with the inoculated one. As the inoculated 
branches multiply, diminish the original one till noth- 
ing remains but the new tree. From this simple treat- 
ment, the buds will extend, if inserted eaily, many 
feet with numerous branches the same summer, and be 
prepared to produce fruit the ensuing year, and in 
some instances blossoms appear the same season. 
These buds so early introduced, will acquire strength 
sufficient to resist the frost and cold of the ensuing 
winter, equally well with the engrafted scion. It is 
strongly recommended by Mr. Forsyth, as soon as the 
incision is made and the bud or graft inserted, to rub 
on with the finger or brush, some of his composition 
before the wrapping strings are tied on, then cover 
the strings all over with the composition as thick as 
it can be laid on with a brush, and this he thinks, is 
preferable to the clay composition. It is important to 
observe as a rule, not to slacken too soon the wrapping 
strings, and if the bark of the stock is found to spread 
open, the strings should be reapplied and suffered to 
remain some weeks longer, that the young bud may be 
secured from the sun and air, until it obtains a firm 
support in the stock. 

NURSERY PRUNING. 

Young trees properly pruned in the nursery, will, 
it is said, come to bearing sooner, and continue in vig- 
our for nearly double the common time. All super- 
fluous or rambling branches should be taken off annu- 
ally, and only three or four leading shoots be left to 
every head. Thus managed, the trees will not re- 
quire to be lopped for a considerable time ; and as 
they will have no wounds open in the year when trans- 



48 CULTURE AND" MANAGEMENT 

planted, their growth will be greatly promoted. The 
more the range of branches shoots circularly, inclin- 
ing upwards, the more equally will the sap be distrib- 
uted, and the better the tree bear. Mr. Cooper, a 
very intelligent cultivator, remarks that the side shoots 
should not be cut close to the stem, as the whole 
growth is thereby forced to the top, which becomes 
so weighty as to bend and spoil the tree. A better 
method is, to cut the ends of the side shoots so as to 
keep the tree in a spiral form, which will encourage 
the growth of the trunk, until it acquires strength to 
support a good top. The side shoots may then be 
cut close. In forming the top, Mr. C. has found it 
necessary to lighten the east and northeast sides, as 
fruit trees generally incline that way ; and to encour- 
age the branches on the opposite quarters, to keep 
the sun from the trunk ; otherwise the rays of that 
luminary, when striking at nearly right angles, will 
kill the bark, bring on canker, and ruin the tree. In 
Marshal's Rural Economy, we have the following di- 
rections. In pruning the plants, the leading shoot 
should be particularly attended to. If it shoot double, 
the weaker of the contending branches should be tak- 
en off. If the leader be lost and not easily recovera- 
ble, the plant should be cut down to within a hand's 
breadth of the soil, and a fresh stem trained. Next 
to the leader, the stem boughs require attention. 
The undermost boughs should be taken off by de- 
grees ; going over the plants every winter ; always 
cautiously preserving sufficient heads to draw up the 
sap, thereby giving strength to the stems, anc«S vigour 
to the roots and branches; not trimming them up to 
naked stems, as is the common practice, thereby draw- 
ing them up prematurely tall and feeble in the lower 
part of the stems. The thickness of the stem ought 
to be in proportion to its height ; a tall stock there- 
fore requires to remain longer in the nursery than a 



OF FRUIT TREES. Ad 

low one. We have the respectable authority of Mr. 
T. Pickering, that such trees as are tall should be cut 
down close to the ground, to prevent their being shak- 
en by the wind, and to promote their growth. It may 
seem strange, he observes, to advise the cutting down 
a tall, well-grown plant, yet it is necessary ; for the 
roots are always hurt and shortened by the removal ; 
it is impossible for those that remain, to nourish the 
same body ; this is the reason we so often find our 
trees dead at top and hide-bound. Should my direc- 
tions, he says, be followed, which are from thirty 
years experience, such vigorous shoots will spring up, 
as will in ten years become much larger trees than if 
they had stood uncut for forty years ; and the bark 
and every appearance of the tree will be like one from 
the seed, and much trouble will be saved in staking, 
to prevent their ruin from the wind. This method 
has not, we believe, been very frequently adopted, al- 
though recommended byother cultivators beside the 
venerable author just cited, the result of whose long 
experience, and the reasons assigned for the practice, 
must be deemed satisfactory. It has been stated by 
an English author, that when young trees are planted 
out from the nursery, as soon as they begin to break 
in the spring, they are to be cut down to three or four 
eyes, according to their strength, to furnish them with 
bearing wood. If this were not done, they would run 
up in long naked branches, and would not produce one 
quarter of the fruit which they would when this is 
properly performed. It is a point of considerable im- 
portance to observe, that in cutting off a branch, it 
should always be done just above a bud close to its 
shoulder, leaving a smooth and sloping surface that 
the wound may heal the first season. When a small 
piece is left above the shoulder of the shoot or bud, 
the sap ceases to nourish it,and of course the piece dies 
and communicates a fatal disease to the sound wood. 
*5 



SO CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



ORCHARD. PLANTING AND CULTURE, 

It is an object of no inconsiderable importance to 
select the most eligible soil, situation and aspect for 
laying out a fruit orchard. With respect to soil, it 
should be of a rich loamy nature, neither too wet or 
heavy, nor too light or dry. Those fertile fields or 
pastures which produce abundant crops of corn, grass, 
and other vegetables, will in general be found well 
adapted to the growth of fruit trees. But in all cases, 
the soil should be suited to the particular kind of 
fruit. In Herefordshire, a celebrated cider county, 
in England, it is said to be a fact well ascertained, that 
scions from the same tree, grafted upon similar stocks, 
and planted in different soils, will produce cider of 
different qualities. It is also found that the early 
fruits obtain the greatest perfection in a sandy soil, 
and that the late fruits succeed best when planted in a 
strong clay. The best cider orchards are on a strong 
clayey soil ; for it seems to be admitted that the cider 
from trees in clay is stronger, and will keep better, 
than cider made from trees on a sandy soil. But 
again, as applicable to our own country. "The choice 
of a proper soil and exposure," says Dr. Mease, (Dom. 
Ency.) "is not sufficiently attended to in the United 
States. Mr. Riley, of Marcus Hook, whose experience 
in cider is inferiour to none, assures the editor, that 
apples growing in a good loose soil, produce much 
more rich and generous liquor than those that grow 
in a stiff* clayey land." An orchard, says an English 
writer, should rather be elevated than low, as on a 
gentle declivity open to the south and southeast, to 
give free admission to the air and rays of the sun, as 
well as to dry up the damp, and dissipate fogs, in or- 
der to render the trees healthy, and give a fine flavour 
to the fruit. It should likewise be well sheltered 
from the east, north, and westerly winds. The bios- 



GF FRUIT TREES. ol 

soms of apple trees are liable to be injured by spring 
frosts, when the trees are planted in the lowest parts 
of a confined valley. In the domestick encyclopedia, 
Dr. Mease has inserted an excellent paper on the cli- 
mate of the United States by colonel Tatham, from 
which I extract as follows. "It is a fact that in those 
western parts of the United States, which have a high 
exposure to the winter's blast, the northern sides of a 
ridge or mountain arrive sooner and more certainly 
at a state of perfect vegetation, than the south sides, 
which are laid open to the power of the sun. I ac- 
count for this phenomenon as follows : I suppose that 
the southern exposure to the vehement rays of the 
sun, during the infant stages of vegetation, puts the 
sap in motion at too early a period of the spring, be- 
fore the season has become sufficiently steady to af- 
ford nurture and protection to the vegetating plant, 
blossom or leaf; and when in this state, the first ef- 
forts of vegetation are checked by the chilling influ- 
ence of cold nights, and such changeable weather as 
the contest between winter and spring is ever ready 
to produce, in their apparent struggles to govern the 
season. On the contrary, the northern exposures, 
which are not so early presented to the vivifying in- 
fluence of the sun, remain, as it w T ere, in a torpid state 
until the more advanced period of the spring, when 
all danger of vegetation being checked, is over." I 
have long entertained the opinion, says Mr. Yates, 
that an orchard, exposed to the north, where the 
ground in the spring of the year continues longer 
bound by frost, which retards the vegetation, would 
be preferable to one bearing an easterly or southern 
aspect, where the sap-juice is sooner in motion, and 
accelerated by the rays of the sun. The rows of 
trees in an orchard ought to incline to a point of com- 
pass towards the east ; because the sun will shine up- 
on them early in the forenoon, and thus dissipate the 



52 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

vapours which arise during the vernal nights, and 
stint the fruit in the earlier stages of its growth. The 
trees should be arranged in uniform straight rows, as 
being most convenient to the husbandman, and at the 
same time exhibiting the most pleasing view to the 
tasteful eye. The distance in the rows or squares, 
will depend on the size and form of the full grown 
tree, and on various other circumstances connected 
with the future intentions and views of the proprietor. 
]n every instance, however, the distance should be 
such as to prevent the extreme branches from locking 
into each other when attained to full maturity of 
growth. Miller, an experienced English horticultu- 
ralist, says, when the soil is good, the distance should 
be fifty or sixty feet, and where the soil is not so good, 
forty feet may be sufficient. Lawson, who wrote in 
1626, observes, that in a good soil and under proper 
management, apple trees will, in forty or fifty years, 
spread twelve yards on each side ; and the adjoining 
tree spreading as much, gives twenty-four yards, or 
seventy-two feet, and the roots will extend still fur- 
ther. He therefore recommends that apple trees be 
set at the distance of eighty feet from each other. 
The advantages of thin planting are said to be : 1. The 
sun refreshes every tree, the roots, body, and branch- 
es, with the blossoms and fruit, whereby the trees are 
more productive, and the fruit largei, fairer and bet- 
ter flavoured. 2. The trees grow larger, and are more 
healthy and durable. 3. When trees are planted too 
near, the lower branches are smothered for want of 
sun and air, the fruit is never well flavoured, and al- 
ways small. The object is fruit, and we are not to 
expect that the quantity will be in proportion to the 
number of trees in an orchard, for a few trees of a 
large size will produce more and better fruit, than six 
or eight times the number of those which grow near 
and crowd one another. Again, apples are not to be 



OF FRUIT TREES. 53 

estimated according to their number only, but their 
size and weight, as well as their superiour flavour. 
Another advantage is the profit of cultivating the 
ground under and about the trees. The intervening 
spaces may be cultivated with various vegetables, or 
if preferred, they may be filled with some temporary 
trees of small growth, as dwarfs, which may be remov- 
ed when the principal standards have attained to a 
large size. Many apple trees have borne fruit for 
more than a century ; and when trees show signs of 
decay at the age of thirty or forty years, it is in gene- 
ral to be attributed to mismanagement, and probably 
to close planting. Every cultivator must have ex- 
perienced the great inconvenience occasioned by nar- 
row and crowded intervals. When apple trees stand 
at the distance of twenty-five or thirty feet only, their 
horizontal branches will, as we frequently see, in 
fifteen or twenty years interlope each other, and al- 
most entirely obstruct the intervals between them. 
Taking into view, therefore, the foregoing particu- 
lars, the cultivator, in planting a young orchard, will 
determine for himself the most convenient and suita- 
ble width (of the intervals between his trees. The 
most generally approved distance is forty feet in all 
directions, and this gives twenty seven trees to an 
acre, while at thirty feet apart, an acre will contain 
forty-eight trees, and at thirty-five feet distance, thir- 
ty-five trees occupy an acre. 

With respect to the most proper season for plant- 
ing apple trees in the United States, different opin- 
ions prevail. According to Dr. Mease, no general 
rule can be given, owing to the immense variety of 
climates with which we are favoured. In some states, 
the autumn may be best, while in others (in Pennsyl- 
vania) it is probable that early in the spring answers 
best. Indeed, in a comparative experiment of spring 
and autumn planting, made near Philadelphia, in 



54 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

1802 — 3, the advantage was considerably in favour of 
those put down in the spring. Some, planted in au- 
tumn, were from a nursery near the city, and nearly 
all died ; another parcel, from the excellent nursery 
of Mr. Prince, of Flushing, Long-Island, arrived late 
in April, and all survived. There was no reason to 
suspect any difference in the soil, or the care with 
which both parcels were planted, E. Preble, esquire, 
of Boston, is decided in preferring autumn to spring, 
for planting apple tress, as the ground will settle 
round the roots before frost, and the trees prepared 
to shoot in the spring, aided by the rains which pre- 
vail at that season. If planted in spring, he observes, 
the drought and heat of summer will injure, if not 
destroy them, before the roots find their place. He 
is in the practice of transplanting them as soon as the 
foliage is off in autumn, and farmers have more leis- 
ure at that season of the year. 

PREPARATION OF THE LAND, AND PLANTING. 

When the ground is in pasture, it should be plough- 
ed to a considerable depth, and well summer fallowed, 
till the grass be killed. But, if trenching should be 
preferred, the spade must be carried to the full depth 
of the soil ; and if it be gravelly, a considerable por- 
tion of this should be removed, and its place supplied 
by a due quantity of rich mould. The quality of the 
soil should approach as nearly as possible to that of 
the nursery, in which the trees were reared. If it be 
poorer, the trees will certainly be impeded in their 
growth. The trenches should be well dug, about five 
or six feet wide, that the holes to receive the roots 
may be made sufficiently large. Much of the future 
prosperity of the orchard depends upon a judicious 
selection of the trees. Mr. Bucknal advises, that they 
be chosen the year before they are intended to be 



\ 



OT FRUIT TRE£S«r 55 

planted, particular care being taken to obtain young, 
vigorous and healthy trees ; for cankered plants emit 
a vapour that is very detrimental to such as are sound. 
In taking up the trees from the nursery, the roots 
should be preserved of the full length, if possible; the 
surface earth should be removed, and the running 
roots carefully traced and raised. If they must be 
cut, let it be done with a sharp instrument, and not 
hacked with a dull spade. The tap root, or that which 
penetrates straight down, may be shortened to the 
length of about one foot, and all broken or bruised 
parts should be removed. The small matted fibres 
should be cut off, as they are apt to mould and decay, 
and pi event new ones from shooting. The remaining 
side roots should be spread out to give them a hori- 
zontal direction under the surface, that they may be 
more immediately influenced by the sun, and their 
sap will become richer, and produce the sweetest and 
most beautiful fruit. Some well-rotted manure, mix- 
ed with mould, may be advantageously placed round 
the roots, the earth carefully pressed down, so as to 
come in contact with the roots in every part, and the 
trees placed the same side to the sun as they stood be- 
fore. In transplanting trees, it may be observed, that 
they should not be replanted deep in the soil, since 
the most nutritive or salubrious parts of the earth are 
those within the reach of the sun's warmth, of the de- 
scending moisture, and of the air. And as the root 
fibres of trees, like those of seeds, always grow to- 
ward the purest air and brightest light, it follows, that 
the root fibres seldom rise higher in the ground than 
they were originally set, and seldom elongate them- 
selves perfectly horizontally : so that when a fruit 
tree is planted too deep in the earth, it seldom grows 
in healthy vigour, either in respect to its leaf buds or 
flower buds. For a more particular description of the 
method of planting fruit trees, I quote the language of 



56 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

Mr. Marshal], as follows : "Describe a circle about 
five or six feet diameter for the hole. If the ground 
be in grass, remove the sward in shallow spits, plac- 
ing the sods on one side of the hole j the best of the 
loose mould placed by itself on another side, and the 
dead earth, from the bottom of the hole, in another 
heap. The depth of the holes should be regulated by 
the nature of the sub-soil. Where this is cold and re- 
tentive, the holes should not be made much deeper 
than the cultivated soil. To go lower, is to form a 
receptacle for the water, which by standing among 
the roots, is very injurious to the plants. On the 
contrary, in a dry, light soil, the holes should be made 
considerably deeper ; as well to obtain a degree of 
coolness and moisture, as to be able to establish the 
plants firmly in the soil.* In soils of a middle quality, 
the hole should be of such depth, that when the sods 
are thrown to the bottom of it, the plant will stand at 
the same depth in the orchard as it did in the nurse- 
ry. Each hole, therefore, should be of a depth adapt- 
ed to the particular root planted in it. The holes 
ought, however, for various reasons, to be made prev- 
ious to the day of planting. If the season of planting 
be spring, and the ground and the weather be dry, 
the holes should be watered the evening befoie the 
day of planting, by throwing two or three pails full 
of water into each ; a new but eligible practice. In 
planting, the sods should be thrown to the bottom of 

* Agriculturalists are apprized of the fact that stones have a 
tendency to keep the contiguous earth moist and cool ; and that 
when applied to the roots of fruit trees the} 7 produce benefic- 
ial effects. The honourable A. Wells, Esq. of Dorchester, 
found by experiment that those trees at the bottom of which 
he put a horse-cart load of small stones, when planted, great- 
ly outstripped those which were planted without stones. The 
growth of the former in six years being from 12 to 14 inch- 
es in circumference one foot from the ground, while that of 
the latter was nine inches in the same time. Sec page 63. 



nr 



OF FRUIT TREES. Q< 

the hole, cliopt with the spade, and covered with some 
of the finest of the mould. If thje hole be so deep, 
that with this advantage the bottom will not be raised 
high enough for the plant, some of the worst of the 
mould should be returned before the sod be thrown 
down. The bottom of the hole being raised to a prop- 
er height and adjusted, the lowest tier of roots is to 
be spread out upon it ; drawing them out horizontally 
and spreading them in different directions, drawing 
out with the hand the rootlets and fibres which seve- 
rally belong to them, spreading them out as a feather, 
pressing them evenly into the soil, and covering them 
by hand with some of the finest of the mould ; the 
other tiers of roots are then to be spread out and bed- 
ded in the same manner. Great care is to be taken 
to work the mould well in, by hand, that no hollow- 
ness be left ; to prevent which, the mould is to be 
trodden hard with the foot. The remainder of the 
mould should be raised into a hillock, round the stem, 
for the tripple use of affording coolness, moisture, and 
stability to the plant. A little dish should be made 
on the top of the hillock, and from the rim of this the 
slope should be gentle to the circumference of the hole, 
where the broken ground should sink some few inches 
below the level of the orchard. All this detail may 
be deemed unnecessary ; by those, I mean, who have 
been accustomed to bury the roots of plants in the 
grave-digger's manner ; but 1 can recommend every 
part of it to those who wish to insure success, from my 
own practice. Plants which have been transplanted 
in the manner here recommended, whose heads have 
been judiciously lessened, and which have been plant- 
ed in the manner here described, seldom require any 
other stay than their ov/n roots. If, however, the 
stems be tall, and the roots few and short, they should 
be supported in the usual manner, with stakes, or rath- 
er, in the followipg manner, which is at once simple, 

a 



58 CULTURE AND MA'NAGtHfletfff 

strong, and most agreeable to the eye. Take a large 
post, and slit it with a saw, and place the parts flat- 
way with the faces to the plant, one on each side of 
if, and two feet apart, and nail your rails upon the edg- 
es of the posts." 

It seems to be a well-founded opinion that young 
apple trees will not flourish advantageously if planted 
on the site of an old orchard, or near the place where 
old trees have died. William Coxe, esquire, of New- 
Jersey, the most experienced orchardist in the United 
States, has experimented with the view of ascertain- 
ing this fact ; and the result has demonstrated the 
correctness of it in the clearest manner. He planted 
young trees in the middle space between the old rows,, 
and sometimes near the stumps of old treesj which 
had been for many years cut down and decayed ; he 
removed the old soil in digging the holes, and replac- 
ed it with rich earth mixed with manure, and gave to 
his trees all the advantage of high cultivation, yet 
they were manifestly inferiour in point of growth and 
vigour to those which were planted at the same season 
in his adjoining lots. 

Having progressed thus far, the husbandman is now 
presented with a valuable orchard, planted and ar- 
ranged in complete systematick order ; and it may, if 
he please, be considered as the work of his own hands, 
from which he may anticipate high expectations of 
profit and amusement. Thus the value of a farm is 
greatly augmented, and the proprietor enjoys the sat- 
isfaction of bequeathing a rich inheritance to future 
generations. But his labour is not yet at an end ; it 
will still require his fostering care, and unremitted at- 
tention. In vain do we plant, labour, and toil, if through 
neglect in a single point, we suffer our harvest to be 
wrested from our hands. Nor are we less culpable if 
we suffer a young orchard to be destroyed by the de- 
predations of cattle, the annoyance of insects, and the 



OF FRUIT TREES. 59 

corroding canker, without applying the appropriate 
remedies. We suppose, then, of course, that the or- 
chard is properly enclosed by a strong and close fence. 
We next proceed to cultivate the soil beneath, and be- 
tween the trees, until they arrive at their complete 
size, as the quality, excellence, and maturity of the 
fruit will, in a great measure depend upon its proper 
culture. This process may be performed either with 
the plough, if due care be taken not to injure the 
roots, or with the spade around the trunks, and by 
these means both the fertility and health of the trees 
are promoted, and the soil itself improved for the 
purpose of raising potatoes, turnips, or other vegeta- 
bles, which do not tend too much to impoverish the 
land. If, however, it is intended to cultivate clover, 
or other meadow grass for mowing, still it will be ad- 
visable to reserve a circuit round each tree, as exten- 
sive as the roots, to be kept open by tillage, that by 
frequent hoeing the fertilizing properties of rain, air, 
and dew, may more easily penetrate into the earth, 
and produce beneficial effects on the roots. The opin- 
ion prevails among some farmers, that clover has a 
tendency to retard the growth of fruit trees. If this 
be true of clover more than of any other grass, it may 
probably be explained from its luxuriant foliage se- 
cluding the influence of warmth, air, and light, from 
their roots. Mr. Kenrick, of Newton, observes, that 
he has found herds grass the most injurious to his 
trees. 

MANURING. 

Tt is well known to every farmer, that young fruit 
trees will flourish luxuriantly, while the ground is cul- 
tivated with various vegetable crops, and that the same 
tillage and manuring, which is required for the latter, 
will prove highly conducive to the growth and fertili- 



60 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

ty of the former. In fact, it has been ascertained by 
experience and observation, that apples, pears, peach- 
es, &c. attain to their highest perfection only when 
the soil about the roots is kept open, and frequently 
manured. It is by the chemical combination of air, 
warmth, and moisture, that the growth and vigour of 
plants and trees are essentially promoted and main- 
tained. The process of nature is greatly assisted by 
such substances as cause the greatest degree of fermen- 
tation, when buried in the earth. Hence, all animal 
substances, from the great degree of fermentation cre- 
ated by their dissolution, will be found productive of 
the greatest utility. Among these, are dead animal 
bodies, horns, hoofs, bones, when reduced to fragments 
or powder, leather, shells, &c. To which may be add- 
ed hair, wool, and woollen rags. These, applied to 
the roots, and a top dressing of swamp or pond mud, 
chip or compost manure, annually, or once in two 
years, will produce surprising effects, and the farmer 
will realize ample compensation by the increased quan- 
tity and improved quality of his crop. As an extra- 
ordinary instance of resuscitating an old worthless ap- 
ple tree, by the application of manure, I quote from 
the Dom. Ency. a statement, which appeared in the 
Salem Register, of May, 1802. u ln my garden is an 
apple tree, which about the year 1763, sprouted from 
the root of a former tree : it now girts three feet six 
inches. From 1784 to 1790, 1 observed it to be bar- 
ren, and a cumberer of the ground ; year after year, 
being the prey of caterpillars, and exhibiting the con- 
stant appearance of innumerable warts within the out- 
side bark, which at the time, 1 suspected was natural 
instinct in the insect for the propagation of its kind. 
In the spring of 1793, I tried an experiment for giv- 
ing it new life, as follows : very early in the season, I 
directed my gardener with a hoe to cleanse the out- 
side bark of such excressences as might bear the ope- 



OP FRUIT TREES. 61 

ration with little difficulty. In the next place, I di- 
rected him to raise a wall of small stones round the 
tree, at the distance of one foot, and perhaps nine inch- 
es high, and then to fill the cavity with manure from 
the resource of compost. The effect in the succeed- 
ing season was truly worthy of notice. The warts 
disappeared, the bark clean and thrifty, and the tree 
so loaded with fruit as that about one third of the 
boughs broke and came to the ground with the cum- 
bersome weight. Comparatively no caterpillars since, 
and, on an average, a very plentiful crop of fruit 
yearly. I was led to the experiment by taking notice 
of a pear tree that had been in a very similar situation, 
and had been resuscitated in a similar manner." 

There is not, perhaps, in nature a more fertilizing 
application than the liquid substance which is left at 
the bottom of stercoraries and barn yards, after the 
more solid substance has been removed. This effer- 
vescing mixture contains the very essence of the food 
of plants, and it might be carried out in tight carts or 
casks, especially in a dry season, and emptied about 
the trunks and roots, in the cool hours of morning and 
evening, but on no account during the heat of a sum- 
mer's day. The planter, however, ought to be ap- 
prized, that the process of manuring must not be car- 
ried to excess, as too great a stimulus applied to 
trees, facilitates the luxuriant growth of wood, and 
renders the branches less productive of fruit : or the 
trees may be stimulated to a preternatural exertion 
for a few years, when their prolifick powers will be 
exhausted, and a premature decay induced. Fresh 
stable manure is supposed to be injurious to fruit trees. 

There is another expedient, which is understood to 
have produced favourable effects in promoting the 
growth of young fruit trees, especially in grass land. 
The method was published some years ago by a Ger- 
man clergyman, and simply consists in spreading flax- 
*6 



&Z CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

shaws, or the refuse of flax after it has been dressed, 
on the soil contiguous to the trunks of the trees, as far 
as the roots extend j by which means their size, as 
well as their fertility, is remarkably increased. In 
the vicinity of the seacoast, a valuable substitute for 
refuse flax, may be found in fresh sea weed. I have 
employed this article with considerable advantage. 
Being laid thick round the trunk, it prevents the 
growth of grass and weeds, keeps the earth open and 
loose, and, I am disposed to believe, prevents field 
mice from injuring the bark of the trees in winter, as 
the salt with which this substance is impregnated is 
supposed to be obnoxious to those vermin. It occurs 
to me as highly probable, that a quantity of sea weed 
pressed round the trunks of fruit trees, extending 
thiee or four feet, would prove a remedy against the 
canker worm, by forming a compact substance, through 
which both the canker moth and worm would be un- 
able to penetrate. It might also serve as a protection 
against the destructive worm, which bores into the 
tree near the surface of the earth. 

Engrafted apple trees sometimes put forth blossoms 
and bear fruit when two or three years old ; but if this 
premature produce be permitted, the prolifick powers 
will be greatly impaired, and the trees will suffer irre- 
parable injury. If, therefore, the blossoms appear 
abundant, the fruit should be taken off as soon as 
formed, leaving 4 or 5 apples on each tree, to ascer- 
tain their size and quality. Even at a more advanc- 
ed stage of growth, if part of the apples are taken off 
in season, the remainder will be much improved in all 
respects, and the trees will not only produce fruit in 
higher perfection, but the bearing branches will every 
year become more vigorous and fruitful. It has been 
observed, that trees, which begin their bearing gradu- 
ally, are, in general, more disposed to afford an annual 
crop. 



OT FRUIT TREKS. 63 

It is not to be expected, that the systematick plan 
and particular rules desc ribed in the foregoing pages, 
will accord with the views and circumstances of every 
agriculturalist. Jt may, in some instances, interrupt 
a course of field culture which the farmer has prescrib- 
ed for himself, or his farm may not afford an eligible 
situation for a regular plantation of fruit trees. In 
such dilemma it may be convenient to plant trees in 
various parts of the farm, not otherwise occupied, as 
on the borders and corners of fields contiguous to 
roads, lanes, &c. In some instances, it is deemed a 
preferable method to set trees on the sides of a square 
field, the centre of which is left open for pasture or 
tillage ; and such arrangement is not without its ad- 
vantages. It has been observed, that apple trees pro- 
duce a more abundant crop when the ground is trod- 
den and manured by cattle in the winter ; but they 
should by no means be suffered to browse on the 
branches. We are not, indeed, without examples of 
scattered trees, of spontaneous growth, occupying 
land which has never been broken by the plough, 
nor subjected to the hand of culture. From these, 
tolerable crops of fruit are occasionally obtained, 
which, although of inferiour quality, are nevertheless 
capable of being converted to useful purposes. With 
the view of showing the facility with which many 
natural disadvantages may be overcome, and an or- 
chard reared in the most unpromising situation, I shall 
introduce here an extract from a valuable paper, pub- 
lished in the Agricultural Repository, No. 1. vol. 6, 
by the honourable John Wells, esquire, of Dorches- 
ter, one of the Trustees of the Mass. Agricultural So- 
ciety. Mr. W. relates two instances of cultivating 
apple trees successfully in unfavourable situations. 
In the one, a low piece of strong stony land was tak- 
en. "As it was rather flat, it was ploughed in strips 
or dug in spaces about four feet square. As it was 



€4 CULTURE ANS MANAGEMENT 

necessary to plough a furrow between each row, the 
mode of ploughing in strips was found the best, as by 
turning the furrow towards the tree, the land was bet- 
ter drained. Besides raising the ground a little from 
the surrounding soil, half a buck load of loam was add- 
ed, to raise the ground on which the tree was set. 
After this was done, the strips or squares, as the case 
might be, were appropriated to the culture of pota- 
toes and garden vegetables. In a few places only, the 
trees failed from the insufficiency of the drain. But 
by opening the drain, and raising the ground by half 
a buck load of loam, I found, on setting out a new 
tree, it flourished equally with the rest. This orchard, 
now in eight years, is a most valuable one, and most 
of the trees would give half a barrel of apples. From 
this and other circumstances which have fallen within 
my observation, it appears that low land, if strong soil, 
and well drained, will give a fine orchard, and proba- 
bly sooner than any other." 

The next effort was made under totally opposite 
circumstances. "The object was to have an orchard 
on a particular spot, where the soil was thin and light, 
upon a plain or flat. The holes were dug four feet 
over. The two upper strata of black and yellow loam, 
were placed aside the tree. After this, about ten inch- 
es in depth of the gravelly, or poorer earth, was taken 
out and carted off, and a horse cart load of stones up- 
set into the hole ; upon these, a part of the upper stra- 
tum, or some dirt from the side of the road was scat- 
tered so as to fill up the interstices ; since which the 
spots near the trees have been cultivated by planting 
four hills of potatoes round each tree. The result has 
been tolerably favourable with all ; but the trees hav- 
ing the stones placed at the roots have exceedingly 
outstripped the others. The dimensions of the trees 
in the first experiment — a rich, low, black, stony soil, 
drained^ — were, at the expiration of eight years, fif- 



OP FRUlT TREES. 65 

teen to seventeen inches in circumference, one foot 
from the ground. This may be considered (the tree 
being small when set out) as a growth of about two 
inches a year. The growth in the second experi- 
ment, for six years, was twelve to fourteen inches, in 
the holes in which the stones were put, one foot from 
the ground. Where no stones were put, nine inches 
was the growth. It will thus be perceived, that the 
vegetation was most powerful under circumstances by 
nature least favourable. If, then, thus much can be 
done to counteract such disadvantages, it surely offers 
much encouragement to our efforts, and leads us to 
hope, that not only in this, but in other objects, they 
may be beneficially extended." 

ORCHARD PRUNING, 

It has been remarked, that the management of or- 
chards is capable of being reduced to a system, under 
a few general heads, connected in the principle of 
making all trees in an orchard healthy, round, large 
and beautiful. There is no part of this management 
perhaps, so important, and which requires more skill, 
and at the same time is so little understood, as the 
process of orchard pruning. The necessity of com- 
mencing, and annually repeating this operation in the 
nursery, has already been inculcated. When tiis 
discipline is properly put in practice, at that early 
period of growth, there will be less employment for 
the pruning knife at all future periods ; it will never- 
theless be found indispensably necessary to retrench 
redundant or superfluous shoots and branches in every 
successive year of their existence. "To the neglect 
of pruning fruit trees in due season," says Mr. Yates, 
"and the unskilful manner of performing it, may, in a 
great measure, be ascribed the bad and unfruitful state 
of some of the orchards in America. This inatten- 






£6 CtTLTURE AttD MANAGEMENT 

lion and mismanagement, and, especially, the not am= 
putating dead limbs, and extirpating all infected parts 
of fruit trees, subjects them to disease, mortification 
and death. An unpruned tree, lef f in a natural state, 
will bear fruit sooner than one that is pruned ; for by 
pruning, the parts below the lopped or amputated 
branches become viviparious, and produce new leaf 
buds, which require several years before they will ac- 
quire sufficient maturity to generate fluzuer buds, to 
produce an oviparous progeny $ but unpruned trees 
grow and look irregular and unsight'y ; nor is their 
fruit to be compared to that of trees properly pruned 
and managed, in order to afford them a more equal 
advantage of the sun and air, by means whereof they 
will produce fruit better in size and quality." 

The two great practical errours which have hith- 
erto prevailed, and by which fruit trees have suffered 
irreparable injury, are, 1. The season of the year ; 
£nd ■?. The awkward and unskilful man*^.* ;- -7^-^ 

the operation has been performed. In general, the 
months of February and March have been considered 
as the preferable season for pruning, and not unfre- 
quently the executioner is sent into the tree with his 
exterminating axe, where he commences an almost in- 
discriminate slaughter, leaving long projecting stumps, 
and disregarding equally the form and beauty of the 
tree, and the particular branches and spurs upon 
which the future crop principally depend. In March, 
the sap is retained in the roots, and the bark adheres 
closely to the wood ; consequently, the wounds occa- 
sioned by the amputation of branches being exposed 
to the cold, penetrating winds and frosts, before the 
circulation of the sap, become dry, rotten, and can- 
kered, and often crack open nearly to the main trunk. 
In old orchards, particularly, if limbs of any consider- 
able size are lopped off, several inches from the trunk, 
before the sap is in active motion, the fresh bark 



OF FRUIT TREES. 67 

round the wood becomes dry, large cavities are form- 
ed, which rapidly extend towards the trunk and heart, 
and the tree is soon deprived of its health and vigour. 
This unskilful procedure has so long been in practice, 
that it need excite no surprise, that a large proportion 
ot our old orchards exhibit a mortifying, disgusting 
spectacle of dead branches, rotten stumps and hollow 
trunks, verging to total ruin. The greatest cause of 
surprise is that our intelligent farmers should suffer 
their valuable land, year after year to be encumbered 
with such worthless lumber, fit only for the resort of 
vermin and insects ; for it may be observed that the 
more delicate feathered tribe disdain to occupy such 
detestable ruins for the purpose of rearing their brood. 
The long life of different orchards, soil and situ- 
ation being equal, will depend, it is said, more on ju- 
dicious pruning than on any other circumstance. 
Young trees differ much in their natural form and ten- 
dency, and the mode of pruning should vary accord- 
ingly. The peculiarity of growth, which character- 
izes each kind, is easily discovered when from four to 
five or six years old ; and this is the most favourable 
period to complete what was begun in the .nursery, 
for the purpose of correcting any natural defects in 
their form, and giving the proper direction in their 
future growth. The most proper season for pruning 
fruit trees, unquestionably is when the sap-juice is in 
active motion toward the extreme branches. In our 
New England climate, we have the clearest indica- 
tions that the sap commences its circulation about the 
10th of April. From this period to about the last of 
May, whether the buds are just opening, or the blos- 
soms fully expanded, the pruning should be accom- 
plished. It would, for certain reasons, however, seem 
advisable not to delay the operation after the middle 
of May, as the branches are then so charged with a 
full flow of sap, that the bark would be apt to peel, 






68 OOtTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

whereby unseemly wounds might be left, and canker 
induced : and besides, the undergrowth, whether 
grass or grain, might be so far advanced as to suffer 
injury by being trampled upon. For the purpose of 
performing this operation in a proper manner, a saw, 
chisel, and pruning knife, must be provided. It will 
next be requisite to have at hand some suitable com- 
position to apply to the wounded parts, to defend a- 
gainst wet, cold air, or the scorching sun. It is im- 
material whether we employ Forsyth's composition, 
or the clay as prepared for grafting, or an ointment 
composed of rosin, beeswax, and turpentine. Some 
prefer a composition of tar with a little beeswax, sim- 
mered together, to which some red ochre is added. 
This composition, or the above mentioned ointment, 
should be of a proper consistence to be applied to the 
wound with a knife or smooth stick, and they will ad- 
here, and last two years without requiring to be re- 
newed. With respect to the proper method of prun- 
ing, no particular unexceptionable rules can be pre- 
scribed ; much must depend on experience and atten- 
tive observation. It is among the most important 
rules, however, not to amputate a large limb, close to 
the main trunk of a full grown tree, nor indeed a 
branch, which is too large at the place of excision to 
heal or to close over again, as you may give the tree 
its death-wound, by opening an avenue to the air and 
water, which induce rottenness, and, in course of 
time, the limb or trunk becomes hollow, frequently 
to the roots. In pruning, some regard must be had 
to soil and climate. \( the situation be wet and cold, 
trees should be pruned more open for the benefit of 
sun and air, which are less essential in a dry san- 
dy soil, where the fruit ripens better. Winter fruit 
trees should have their branches left wider asunder 
than summer fruit, as they require more warmth of 
the sun than the latter. The general shape of old 



©F FRUIT TREES. 69 

trees should be left substantially the same, that the 
ascending juices may continue, as much as possible, 
in their established channels. Care must be taken 
not too cut away too many large limbs at a time, lest 
too large a portion of the sap should remain inactive, 
and thus occasion mischief. Always prune at a fork, 
and remove the lower branch, that the wound may be 
on the lower side rather than the upper side. All 
large limbs should be cut first at some distance from 
the place where they are to be pruned, as the weight 
may peel the bark, and leave a bad wound ; and in 
order to prevent the same accident, the bark, on the 
under side, should be cut through before the limb is 
amputated. In every instance, after sawing off the 
branch, let the bark and edges of the stump be pared 
close and smooth with a sharp knife, and immediately 
apply the composition so as to cover the whole surface 
of the wound. This is more especially necessary 
when the operation is performed in a cold season, be- 
fore the sap is in circulation. By this procedure the 
new growth or healing process immediately commen- 
ces, and instead of an unseemly rotten cavity, as in 
the old method, the wound will, during the season, if 
not large, be completely healed over, and the tree re- 
main sound and flourishing. Jt is to be observed, that 
the fruit of the apple tree is produced on short, thick, 
side, or terminal shoots or spurs, from one to two or 
three inches long. These spurs naturally proceed 
from branches two, three, or four years old, and as 
these branches increase in length, the fruit spurs in- 
crease in number, and they continue to be fruitful for 
several year*. Mr. Forsyth always leaves the branch- 
es of three different years on the tree, and thus keeps 
them in a constant bearing state ; whereas, if left to 
nature, they would only produce a crop of fruit once 
in two or three years. All old ragged spurs, and use- 
less snags and twigs, should be taken off close to the 
7 



70 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

trunk ; no dead limbs should be suffered to remain, nor 
even thrifty branches that have an irregular tenden- 
cy, running inwards, and rubbing against each other. 
Such branches as intersect or cross each other, and 
thus occasion confusion in the crown of the tree, 
ought to be removed, and all others cleared of suck- 
ers to their very extremities; and indeed it will be 
necessary to prune out a good proportion of the top 
branches, in order to spread open the crown of the 
tree, to admit a free circulation of air and the rays of 
the sun, which are as essentially necessary to mature 
and ripen the fruit. Those superfluous lateral branch- 
es which grow irregularly, and all dead wood, should 
be annually extirpated, to give the proper bearing 
branches sufficient room without injuring the beauty 
of the tree, leaving the fruit branches as nearly equi- 
distant as possible. Such branches as have received 
any material injury ought to be removed. If the 
tree in its first or second sap tend to shoot abundance 
of wood, the young shoots should be pinched off while 
tender, but never cut while the sap is flowing, because 
the tree, by cutting at that time, is apt to run into 
wood, and the blossom buds liable to be injured by be- 
ing deprived of sap. Never suffer a sucker to remain 
near the root, from one year to another, nor by any 
means upon the body or trunk, which is not intended 
to be permanent. Those vigorous young shoots, 
which often spring from old arms, near the trunk, and 
incline to grow up into the head, must be annually 
extirpated, lest they fill the tree with too much wood. 
A sufficient portion of fertile wood should be left in 
every part, but leave no useless branches, to exhaust 
the nutritive powers, and thereby accelerate the de- 
cay of the tree. Mr. Marshall, in his Rural Econo- 
my, observes, that "a redundancy of wood is the cause 
of numerous evils. The roots, or rather the pastur- 
age which supports them, is exhausted unprofitably ; 



OP PRXJlT TREES. 71 

the bearing wood robbed of part of its sustenance, and 
the natural life of the tree unnecessarily shortened ; 
while the superfluous wood, which is the cause ofthis 
mischief, places the tree in perpetual danger, by giv- 
ing the winds additional power over it, and is injuri- 
ous to the bearing wood, by retaining the damps, and 
preventing a due circulation of air. The underhang- 
ing boughs weigh down especially when loaded with 
leaves, the fruit bearing branches they are preying up- 
on, giving them a drooping habit, or at least prevent- 
ing their taking, as they ought and otherwise would, 
an ascending direction ; while those which grow 
within the head are equally injurious in crossing and 
chafing the profitable branches. The outer surface 
only is able to mature fruit properly. Every inward 
and every underling branch ought therefore to be re- 
moved. It is no uncommon sight to see two or three 
tiers of boughs pressing down hard, one upon anoth- 
er, with their twigs so intimately interwoven that, 
even when their leaves are off, a small bird can scarce- 
ly creep in among them. Trees thus neglected ac- 
quire, through a want of ventilation and exercise, a 
runty, stinted habit, and the fruit they bear becomes 
of a crude, inferiour quality. R y some, we are ad- 
vised never to suffer apple trees to begin to head short 
of six or eight feet, for the convenience of passing un- 
der them in ploughing, and to admit the warming and 
fertilizing influence of the sun and air to tne under- 
growth. But the horizontal and drooping branches 
are always the most productive of fruit, and this is 
less liable to be shaken off by the wind, and is more 
conveniently gathered b}' hand. Those who cultivate 
an orchard for the benefit of the fruit, must make the 
undergrowth a secondary consideration. 



72 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



HEADING DOWN OLD DECAYED APPLE TREES. 

According to Mr. Forsyth, when the tops of the 
branches of apple trees begin to die from old age or 
other cause, they ought immediately to be regenerat- 
ed by giving them a new top. This is done by cut- 
ting off a few feet of their extremities over the whole 
tree, so as to leave it in a proper form. If the trunk 
is yet tolerably sound, the new branches will grow 
thriftily, and bear luxuriantly ; and if you wish to 
vary your fruit, the sprouts, after one year's growth, 
and most frequently the same year, will be fit for in- 
oculating, which succeeds equally well in the old as in 
the young trees. In heading down old decayed ap- 
ple trees for the sake of symmetry, it will be necessa- 
ry to cut at the forked branches as near as can be to 
the upper side of the fork, cutting them in a sloping 
manner to carry off the wet, and at the same time 
rounding the edges ; and if any of the branches should 
have the canker, all the infected parts must be cut 
out. The composition must be immediately applied, 
to prevent the fcun and air from injuring the naked 
inner bark. This operation should be performed in 
April or May, and, in the course of the summer, long 
thrifty roots should be thrown out; these should not 
be shortened the first year, but in the following spring 
they may be cut to six or eight inches long, according 
to their strength. In the next spring, after the first 
branches are headed, the remaining old branches may 
be cut out, and these will soon fill the head of the 
tree with fine bearing wood. In three years, if prop- 
erly managed, trees so headed will produce more and 
finer fruit than a maiden tree that has been planted 
upwards of twenty years. The method above detail- 
ed should be adopted with some caution, for it has 
been found, that trees will not survive the loss of all 
their branches, if lopped off in one season ; it is pref- 



OP FRUIT TREES. 73 

erable therefore, to cut and graft them partially every 
season until the whole is accomplished. It may also 
be remarked that Mr. Forsyth's mode of heading 
down old decayed trees, applies chiefly to those trees 
whose branches are all nailed to walls ; it will be found 
difficult if not impracticable, to adopt his mode with 
large apple and pear standard trees. This must be 
left to the judgment and discretion of the cultivator. 

DIRECTIONS 

For making- a composition for curing- diseases, defects, and in- 
juries in all kinds of fruit and forest trees, and the method of 
preparing- the trees, and laying- on the composition, by Wil- 
liam Forsyth. 

Take one bushel of fresh cow-dung, half a bushel 
of lime rubbish of old buildings, (that from the ceilings 
of rooms is preferable) half a bushel of wood-ashes, 
and a sixteenth part of a bushel of pit or river sand : 
the three last articles are to be sifted fine before they 
are mixed : then work them well together with a 
spade, and afterwards with a wooden beater, until the 
stuff is very smooth, like fine plaster used for the ceil- 
ing of rooms. The composition being thus made, 
care must be taken to prepare the tree properly for 
its application, by cutting away all the dead, decayed, 
and injured parts, till you come to the fresh sound 
wood, leaving the surface of the wood very smooth, 
and rounding off the edges of the bark, with a draw- 
knife, or other instrument, perfectly smooth, which 
must be particularly attended to : then lay on the 
plaster about one eighth of an inch thick all over the 
part where the wood or bark has been so cut away, 
finishing off the edges as thin as possible : then take 
a quantity of dry powder of wood-ashes, mixed with a 
sixth part of the same quantity of the ashes of burnt 
bones : put it into a tin box, with holes in the top, and 



74 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

shake the powder on the surface of the plaster till the 
whole is covered over with it, letting it remain for 
half an hour to absorb the moisture ; then apply more 
powder, rubbing it on gently with the hand, and re- 
peating the application of the powder f ill the whole 
plaster becomes a dry and smooth surface. Where 
lime rubbish of old buildings cannot be easily got, 
take pounded chalk, or common lime, after having 
been slacked a month at least. 

As the best way of using the composition is found 
l^y experience to be in a liquid form, it must therefore 
be reduced to the consistence of pretty thick paint, 
by mixing it up with a sufficient quantity of urine 
and soap suds, and laid on with a painter's brush. 
The powder of wood ashes and burnt bones is to be 
applied as before directed, patting it down with the 
hand. 

When trees are become hollow, you must scoop out 
all the rotten, loose, and dead parts of the trunk till 
you come to the solid wood, leaving the surface 
smooth ; then cover the hollow, and every part where 
the canker has been cut out, or branches lopped off, 
with the composition, and as the edges grow, take 
care not to let the new wood come in contact with 
the dead, part of which may be sometimes necessary 
to leave ; but cut out the old dead wood as the new 
advances, keeping a hollow between them, to allow 
the new wood room to extend itself, and thereby fill 
up the cavity, which it will do in time so as to make, 
as it were, a new tree. If the cavity be large, you 
may cut away as much at one operation as? will be suf- 
ficient for three years. But in this you are to be 
guided by the size of the wood and other circumstan- 
ces. W 7 hen the new wood, advancing from both sides 
of the wound, has almost met, cut off the bark from 
both the edges, that the solid wood may join, which, 
if properly managed, it will do, leaving only a slight 



OP FRUIT TREES'. 75 

seam in the bark. If the tree be very much decayed, 
do not cut away all the dead wood at once, which 
would weaken the tree too much and endanger its be- 
ing blown down by the wind. It will, therefore, be 
necessary to leave part of the dead wood at first to 
strengthen the tree, and to cut it out by degrees as 
the new wood is formed. If there be any canker or 
gum oozing, the infected parts must be pared off or 
cut with a proper instrument. When the stem is 
very much decayed and hollow, it will be necessary 
to open the ground and examine the roots ; then pro- 
ceed as directed for hollow peach trees. 

By using the composition in a liquid state, more 
than three fourths of the time and labour is saved ; 
and I find it is not so liable to be thrown offas the lips 
grow, as when laid on in the consistence of plaster : 
it adheres firmly to the naked part of the wound, and 
yet easily gives way as the new wood and bark ad- 
vance. 

In his introduction to the American edition of For- 
syth, Mr. W. Cobbett says, "During the last summer, 
(1801,) I went with a party of friends to be an eye- 
witness of the effects (of which I had heard such won- 
ders related) of this gentleman's mode of cultivating 
and curing trees ; and though my mind had received 
a strong prepossession in its favour, what I saw very 
far surpassed my expectations. Mr. Forsyth, whose 
book was not then published, did us the favour to show 
us the manuscript of it, and also the drawings for the 
plates, which are now to be found at the end of the 
work. After having read those parts of the manu- 
script which more immediately referred to the draw- 
ings, we went into the gardens, and there saw every 
tree which the drawings were intended to represent, 
and of which we found them to be a most exact rep- 
resentation. We examined these trees from the ground 
to the topmost branches j we counted the joints in the 



76 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

wood ; ascertained the time and extent of its growth ; 
and, in short, verified every fact that the book relat- 
ed. To raise fine, flourishing wood from an old, can- 
kered, gummy, decayed stem ; to raise as much wood 
on that stem in three years as could have been raised 
on the finest young trees in twelve years ; to take the 
rotten wood from the trunk ; to replace it with sound 
wood, actually to fill up the hollow, and of a mere 
shell to make a full, round, and solid trunk ; all this 
seems incredible, but of all this we saw indubitable 
proof." In the work just referred to, we have the 
valuable observations of Peter W. Yates, esquire, of 
Albany, respecting Forsyth's treatise, as follow : "Mr. 
Forsyth's treatise, is well calculated to rouse the care 
and attention of gentlemen on this side the Atlantick, 
to the cultivation and management of fruit trees. The 
perusal of his pamphlet, London edition, 1791, af- 
forded him both satisfaction and astonishment. To 
renovate diseased trees fast hastening to decay, and 
to increase the quantity and meliorate the quality of 
the fruit, in the way prescribed by him, seemed al- 
most incredible.'' But Mr. Y. was induced to make 
the experiment. Accordingly in May, 1796, he a- 
dopted the mode of process prescribed by Forsyth, on 
a young bearing (bonecretien) pear tree, the bark of 
which, as well as the alburnum or sapwood, and the 
heart wood, were dead from the ground upwards about 
five feet. He cut away all the dead part, leaving 
nothing but the bark on the opposite side, and applied 
the composition. The effects were soon visible : the 
external part of the wound, which composed about one 
third part of the trunk, was in a few days surrounded 
by a callus or lip, which continued to increase until 
the sap-flow was obstructed and stagnated by the next 
autumnal frost ; but by the subsequent annual flow of 
the juices, the callus increased so as to fill the wound- 
ed part with new wood* The old and new wood 



OF FRUIT TREES. 7? 

united, and is covered with new bark. In many oth- 
er instances, he made similar experiments on various 
kinds of fruit trees with satisfactory success. He is, 
therefore, of opinion, that Forsyth's remedy affords a 
radical cure for diseases, defects, aud injuries in all 
kinds of fruit trees, and that in pruning, especially 
where large amputations are made, the composition 
ought always to be appplied, as it prevents the exud- 
ing of the vegetable juices through the wounded parts, 
aids and precipitates the healing of the wounds, pro- 
motes the vigour and health of the trees, and adds to 
We size and flavour of the fruit. 

The composition of Mr. Forsyth does not, at this 
day, sustain such high reputation as formerly. It is 
not supposed to possess great efficacy as a medicament 
when applied to diseased trees ; and for the purpose 
of defence against wet and heat, it is not perhaps pref- 
erable to an ointment composed of rosin, beeswax, and 
turpentine. It is probable, that a composition consist- 
ing of clay, tempered with horse dung and urine, 
would be found of equal utility. We are not unac- 
quainted with instances of surgeons acquiring great 
celebrity by the application of certain medicaments to 
old ulcers, when in verity the cure was effected by 
the efforts of nature. But as a remedy against in- 
sects, a strong decoction of tobacco, with the addition 
of a little quick lime, is, if I mistake not, of superiour 
efficacy to all other applications. It is therefore 
strongly recommended, that after scraping off the 
rough scales of bark, this wash be faithfully applied to 
ihe trunks of trees, from their roots to the branches, 
every fall and spring, by which, much may be done to- 
wards the annihilation of the tribe of destructive in- 
sects. A weak solution of potash would have a pow- 
erful effect as a remedy against insects, but both this 
and quick lime, on account of their caustic quality, 
should be employed with much caution ; as a too free 



1 



78 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

application may produce injurious effects upon fruit 
trees. 

MEANS OF PRESERVING THE HEALTH AND VIGOUR OF 
FRUIT TREES. 

To promote the health and vigour of fruit trees, 
Mr. Forsyth recommends the following method, and 
it has been practised in our country with the most de- 
cided advantage. Take any quantity of urine and 
soap suds, and add fresh cow dung, and a little slacked 
lime, sufficient to bring it to the consistence of very 
thick white-wash or paint. After having removed all 
cankery parts, and scraped off the rough bark or moss 
from the trees, this mixture is to be applied to the 
stems and branches with a brush, in the same manner 
as the ceiling or walls of a room are white-washed. 
This, if done in March or April annually, will effectu- 
ally destroy the eggs of insects, and prevent moss 
from growing on the trunk and branches ; it will also 
contribute to the nourishment of the tree, and render 
the bark healthy, so that in the course of the first or 
second summer, a fine new bark of a fresh and green 
appeal ance, takes the place of the old one. If this 
application be repeated in autumn, after the fall of the 
leaves, it will have a salutary tendency in destroying 
the eggs of numerous insects that hatch in autumn and 
winter. For the same purpose of Forsyth's mixture, 
white-washing with lime has been practised, and found 
very beneficial in producing similar good effects. The 
application of strong, undiluted soft soap is employed 
by Mr. Ogden, of Flushing, Long-Island. The soap 
applied by means of a brush, destroys the moss and 
softens the bark, and, when washed offby rain, acts as 
a manure to the roots. When Mr. O. began this pro- 
cess, his trees were covered with moss and old scaly 
bark, and bore bad crops ; but in two years all the old 



OF FRUIT TREES. 79 

bark dropped off, and the trunks became as smooth as 
a young poplar. The soaping may be done at any 
season, and repeated, if necessary. 

A correspondent of the Caledonian horticultural so- 
ciety, (Scotland,) recommends clay paint for the de- 
struction of insects, and the mildew on fruit trees. 
The instructions are, that you take a quantity of the 
most tenacious brown clay that can be obtained ; dif- 
fuse among it as much soft water as will bring it to the 
consistence of soft cream or paint ; pass it through a 
line seive, so that it may be made perfectly smooth 
and unctuous, and freed from any gritty particles. 
With a painter's brush dipped in the clay paint, go 
carefully over the whole tree, not excepting the young 
shoots. This layer, when it becomes dry, forms a 
hard crust, which, enveloping the insects closely, 
completely destroys them without doing the smallest 
injury either to the bark or buds. 

Whatever promotes a free circulation of the sap, as 
cleaning the bark from scales, and scraping it to make 
it tender and yielding ; and whatever helps to perfect 
the maturation of the sap in the leaves of the tree, by 
giving them a full exposure to the sun and air, as by 
cutting out the central branches when the head is too 
bushy, and giving it an expanded form, promotes the 
growth, general health, and productiveness of the tree. 

In case the trees are observed to be hide-bound, as 
it is termed, when the bark cracks by reason of the 
stem growing faster than the bark, it will be necessa- 
ry to pass the point of a knife perpendicularly through 
the outter bark only, from the ground as high as the 
branches, taking care not to injure the inner bark. 
It not unfrequently happens, that from the intense 
rays of the sun of summer, striking nearly at right an- 
gles, the sap on the south side of the trees becomes so 
coagulated as to occasion the death of the bark ; can- 
ker ensues, and finally, the tree itself is entirely de- 



30 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

stroyed. As a remedy for this serious evil, a coal of 
the above mentioned clay paint, or Forsyth's compo- 
sition, it is presumed will prove effectual. Tanners- 
bark put round the roots of apple and other fruit trees 
has been found to be of great utility. It keeps the 
ground loose, prevents the growth of suckers and 
grass, and guards against worms and insects. 

DISEASES AND OTHER INCIDENTS WHICH RENDER FRUIT 
TREES UNPRODUCTIVE. 

All the maxims relative to fruit trees, it is said, 
centre in the word health. The great object of the 
fruit farmer, says Marshall, is to produce a crop every 
year ; and nothing is more likely to obtain it, than 
keeping the trees in perfect health, and endeavouring 
to prevent their bearing beyond their strength, in a 
general fruit year. The enemies of fruit trees, says 
the author, are a redundancy of wood, moss, spring 
frosts, blights, insects, an excess of fruit, old age. To 
these should be added canker. Some of them are be- 
yond human reach, but most of them are within the 
control of art. The term blight is of vague significa- 
tion. Black blighting winds are talked of every 
where, but no definite idea is any where affixed to 
the expression. That corn and fruit become unpro- 
ductive without any visible cause, and that fruit trees 
are liable to be infected with insects, are certainly 
facts. But whether insects be the cause or the effect 
of blights, does not appear to be yet settled. With 
respect to blights, all the assistance which art can ren- 
der, is to keep the trees in a state of healthfulness, 
and prevent, as much as possible, an excess of fruit. 
As old age cannot be prevented, we have only to con- 
sider how the productiveness of trees may be pro- 
tracted. I have seen, says he, healthy bearing apple 
trees which now wear their second top. The first 



OF FRUIT TREES. 81 

tops being worn out, were cut off, and the stumps saw- 
grafted. Sometimes we see trees so far gone in de- 
cay, that their productiveness no longer repays their 
incumbrance of the soil. How injudicious, in such 
case, is the conduct of the proprietor, who permits 
such trees to remain year after year, imbibing and 
wasting the substance of his soil ! Moss is chieflj^, 
perhaps, owing to the nature of the soil, and cannot 
be altogether prevented ; but it may in most cases, be 
checked, and its evil effects in a great measure avoid- 
ed. U I have seen several orchards," observes our au- 
thor, "in which the trees were almost entirely subdued 
by this vegetable vermin. Some of the trees with, 
perhaps, only one bough left alive, aud others entire- 
ly killed, and yet suffered to remain, an incumbrance 
to the ground, and a disgrace to the country." It 
would appear, by the above observations of Mr. M. 
that the same culpable neglect in the management of 
fruit trees prevails in England as in our own country. 
Blight, says another writer, means, the effects of 
cold winds, or hoar-frosts on the foliage and blossoms 
of trees. Easterly winds, accompanied with fogs, oft- 
en produce blights ; the buds are nipped, and the ten- 
der vessels burst, innumerable insects soon appear, 
and the branches become withered. "By accident," 
says Dr. Mease, "Mr. Cooper, of New Jersey, discov- 
ered some years since, that a tree upon which a num- 
ber of iron hoops and other articles of iron had been 
hung, remained free from blight, while all the rest 
suffered severely. Since that year he has constantly 
encircled two or three branches of every tree with an 
iron hoop, and with uniform success. As a proof, he 
pointed out one tree with a withered limb near the 
top, and observed that he had neglected to defend it 
last year. Philosophers may speculate as to the the- 
ory of the operation of the iron, and cause of the 
blast, but practical men will be contented with a knowl- 
8 



82 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

edge of the important fact, which comes from a man 
of judgment and of an observing disposition, who has 
again and again satisfied himself that no deception or 
accidental circumstance occurred, by reference to 
which the preservation of his hooped trees could be 
accounted for." 



CANKER. 

Apple trees are very liable to be affected with the 
canker. This disease occasions the bark to grow 
rough and scabby, and turns the wood affected to a 
rusty brown colour ; and if no remedy be applied, 
will in time kill the tree. It is by some described as 
a sort of gangrene, which usually begins at the ex- 
tremities of the branches, and proceeds towards the 
trunk, killing the tree in two or three years. Peter 
Yates, esquire, of Albany, observes, that his fruit trees 
became affected with the canker, generally appearing 
on the southwest side of the body or trunk of the tree. 
The bark of the infected part at first appeared dark, 
and at length rough, wrinkled, cracked, and dead. 
The infection annually increased ; it communicated 
to the alburnum or sap wood ; the circulation of the 
sap-juice was obstructed ; it gradually diminished ; 
it stagnated ; and the tree perished. The general 
opinion respecting the cause of this disease is, that it 
proceeds chiefly from the nature of the soil. Mr. 
Forsyth, however, proves from experience that it 
originates from the following circumstances, namely: 
injudicious pruning ; leaving the foot stalks of fruit 
on trees after it has been gathered ; bruises, arising 
from the use of ladders in collecting fruit ; and dead 
shoots, left on trees during the summer. But, says 
Mr. Yates, " it seems extraordinary, that the fruit 
frees in this climate are almost invariably affected on 



OF FRUIT TREES. 83 

the southwest side of the trunk or body of the trees. 
There it generally commences, and continues to in- 
crease annually, until the infection is communicated 
to the limbs. If I might be permitted to hazard an 
opinion, I would account for it as follows : That it is 
caused by the hot rays of the meridian sun, which in 
that direction is most powerful, and strikes the tree 
nearly at right angles. The south side of trees grows 
faster, for there the vegetation is more rapid than the 
north : this m3y be seen by the concentrick rings of 
a tree when cut or sawed into logs. Fruit trees gen- 
erally incline to the northeast, which exposes their 
trunk to the influence of that luminary in the spring, 
when the sap-juice is subject to alternate freezing and 
thawing. The motion of the sap (which ascends in 
the vernal months in all deciduous trees) is accelerat- 
ed by the hot rays of the sun at southwest. H is re- 
tarded and stagnated in the cool of the nights, where- 
by the irritability of the vegetable vessels is decreas- 
ed for want of a sufficient stimulus of heat; and by 
this alternate thawing and freezing of the sap-juice, 
and particularly on the southwest side of the tree, 
where the sun's rays are most powerful, the vegetation 
is at last destroyed, and mortification ensues." It 
frequently happens, that scions for grafting are taken 
from infected trees ; and the young trees produced in 
this way are, as might be expected, peculiarly obnox- 
ious to the disease. From whatever cause the canker 
may arise, Mr. Forsyth directs all the diseased parts 
to be cut out with a sharp instrument ; and if the 
inner white bark be affected, this also must be cut 
away, until no appearance of infection remains. The 
composition must then be applied. This method Mr. 
Yates has found by experience to prove effectual. 
(See directions for making and laying on the compo- 
sition, page 73.) Mr. Cooper, of New Jersey, has 
found the best remedy for canker to be a composition 



84 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

of rosin, tallow, and beeswax, of a proper consistence 
to stick, after taking off all the dead parts. 

MOSS, AND SCALY BARK, AND DECORTICATION. 

Fruit trees, in all soils, and in all situations, are li- 
able to have their trunks covered with moss, and 
their bark rough and scaly. Besides the unseemly 
appearance, fruit trees suffer much injury by these 
causes, U suffered to continue without a remedy. 
The moss is easily removed by scraping with the 
back of a knife, anl rubbing with a cloth, after a rain, 
or in damp weather; and the scaly bark may wi(h 
equal facility be scraped off with a hoe or knife. 
This operation should be performed every spring, 
and immediately after, the trunks and larger branches 
should receive a proper coat of some of the composi- 
tions already mentioned. Either the washing with 
the liquids, or the application of undiluted soap, (see 
page 73) will effectually remove any remains of moss, 
and, if occasionally repeated, the health and vigour 
of the trees will be restored, and in two years the 
bark will appear fresh and smooth. In some diseased 
condition of the bark of apple trees, the experiment 
of disbarking the whole trunk from the ground to the 
branches, has been successfully practised. Dr. S. L. 
Mitchell, of New York, in the summer of 1799, de- 
prived the whole body of one of his apple trees of the 
bark, without injury to its leaves or fruit; and in 
two months an entire new coat of bark was found 
surrounding the wood on every side. Dr. M. howev- 
er, observes, that though he has several times been 
witness of the harmlessness of the practice, it looked 
to him still like a very violent and hazardous remedy. 
This sort of decortication is by no means a novelty. 
Many ancient writers have observed, that in cases 
where the outer bark has become rough and full of 



©F FRUIT TREES. 85 

chinks, so that small insects deposit their eggs and 
produce their larvee below this bark, it is a good 
practice entirely to remove it. Of late years, Mr. 
Knight practised decortication on some old fruit trees, 
particularly red-streak apples, and found the new 
growth thus produced quite surprising, so that the 
growth of some trees, deprived of their bark in 1801, 
exceeded in the summer of 1802 the increase of the 
five preceding years taken together. This method 
has been adopted in various parts of New England, 
sometimes with complete success, and again, the re- 
sult has been the entire destruction of the trees. 
This failure is attributed, by an iugenious writer in 
the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, to a want 
of skill in the operator; observing that he has seen 
a young apple tree in the town of Hallowell, which, 
on account of some defect, was stripped of its bark 
about ten years prior to his writing, the longest day 
of June, and which still lives and bears fruit. Much 
of its success, it is said, depends on the proper time 
and manner of performing the operation. It should 
be done while the tree is in the full flow of sap, about 
the middle of June, or on the longest day of that 
month, and the bark should be peeled off entirely 
smooth to the Alburnum. Dr. Holyoke, of Salem, 
some years since made the experiment on an old 
pear tree in his yard, that ceased bearing, and restor- 
ed to it its wonted fecundity. 

Fruit trees are liable to have their bark torn off 
by field mice, sheep, and various accidents ; to rem- 
edy which, take some strips of bark from a tree of 
the same species, about two or three inches in width, 
and place four or five of them, according to the size 
of the wound, perpendicularly round the naked part. 
The edges of the torn bark being cut smooth, the 
sound bark should be a little raised, and the slips in- 
serted beneath it to promote the circulation of the 
*8 



86 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

sap. The slips are to be bound quite tisjht with 
rope-yarn, and the composition of Forsyth, or a mixt- 
ure of loam and cow-dung, must be applied, and this 
covered with a coarse cloth. This method of treat- 
ment has been successfully practised; the slips ad- 
here closely, and, being full of sap, soon become firm 
and smooth. Instead of bark slips, small twigs may 
be successfully applied in a similar manner. 

SPRING FROSTS, AND OTHER CAUSES AFFECTING THE 

BLOSSOMS. 

Every cultivator of fruit trees has experienced more 
or less disappointment in his expected crop of apple, 
pear, and other fruit trees, after having exhibited the 
fairest prospect in the vernal season. While in full 
blossom, and the fruit just beginning to form, the pe- 
tals are cast off like the dead leaves in autumn. This 
incident is said to be occasioned by warm and drying 
winds, by which the vigour of the trees is diminished. 
In one instance it appears that a remedy has been suc- 
cessfully applied, and the loss and inconvenience pre- 
vented. J. Sowerby, esquire, in the spring of 1815, 
observed that the drying winds generally succeeded 
the blossoming of his fruit trees ; the whole used to 
be blown off about the time of the setting of the young 
fruit. Deeming it probable that a good dose of water 
at the roots would strengthen the tree, and save the 
fruit, the experiment was tried, and the good effect 
was perceived in twenty-four hours ; the young fruit 
then resisted the attack of the winds, and a large crop 
was produced. Not only were the trees enabled to 
produce their fruit in abundance, but also to increase 
them in size to nearly double. The blossoms of ap- 
ple trees are liable to be injured or destroyed by va- 
rious other causes ; as severe cold, a hazy state of the 
atmosphere, frosts, and insects of various kinds ; and 



OF FRUIT TREES. 87 

Mr. .Knight has remarked, that they also fail frequent- 
ly from want of impregnation when the weather is 
unusually hot and dry, or when cold winds prevail, 
as he often observed the farina to wither and die on 
the antheraein such seasons. 

Spring frosts are an enemy, against which perhaps 
it is most difficult to guard orchard trees. "Dry 
frosts," says Marshall, "are observed to have no other 
effects than keeping the blossoms back ; consequent- 
ly, are frequently serviceable to fruit trees. But wet 
frosts, namely, frosts after a rain, or a foggy air, and 
before the trees have had time to dry, are very inju- 
rious even to the buds. An instance is mentioned, in 
which a flying hazy shower in the evening was suc- 
ceeded by a smart frost : that side of the trees, against 
which the haze drove, was entirely cut off, while the 
opposite sido, which had escaped the moisture, like- 
wise escaped the effect of the frost. Much^however, 
may depend on the strength of the blossomW* When 
the buds form, and the blossoms break forth with un- 
usual vigour, they are enabled by their own strength 
to set common enemies at defiance. But, on the con- 
trary, when the blossoms sicken in the bud, and those 
which open are weak and languid, scarcely an apple 
will be produced. The assistance, therefore, required 
from art, in this case, is by keeping the trees in a 
healthy, vigorous state, to enable them to throw out a 
strength of bud and blossom ; and by keeping them 
thin of wood, to give them an opportunity of drying 
quickly before the frost sets in." Apple blossoms are, 
in some seasons, injured by the devastations of an un- 
common number of insects produced from a species of 
black flies, which deposit their eggs in the bud at its 
first opening, and which, by feeding on the heart of 
the bud, soon occasion it to contract and drop. To 
remedy this fatal effect, we are advised to collect 
heaps of long dung, wet straw, weeds, &c. to dispose 



88 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

them in different parts of the orchard, and set fire to 
the heaps in that quuarter from which the wind blows, 
so that the smoke may thoroughly fumigate all the 
trees. Thus the insects, which are supposed to be 
brought by the wind, will be prevented from deposit- 
ing their eggs. 

CANKER WORM. PHAL.ENA VERNATA PECKII. 

Of all the numerous tribes of insects which infest 
fruit trees, and disappoint the hopes of the cultivator, 
the canker tvorm, during the years of its prevalence, is 
the most to be dreaded. This destructive insect has, 
therefore baffled the efforts of man, and in despite of 
all means of prevention as yet devised, commits its de- 
predations, and deprives whole orchards of foliage and 
fruit. The miller, or moth, rises from the earth in 
the springflConceals itself during the day in holes and 
crevices under the loose bark of apple trees, ard may 
be easily found by searching. The male has wings, 
hut the female appears to have none ; they are ena- 
bled, however, to ascend the trunk of the tree, and 
crawl towards the extremities of the twigs, where they 
deposit their eggs, and as soon as the leaves unfold 
and sprout forth, the worm bursts from the egg and 
commences its ravages. The worms soon spin for 
themselves long threads, similar to those of spiders, by 
which they are suspended in the air, and wafted by 
the wind from tree to tree, and from one adjoining or- 
chard to another, preying voraciously upon the foli- 
age, and giving the trees the appearance of being 
burnt. Professor Peck, of Cambridge, has favoured 
the publick with the most satisfactory history of this 
insect, which has vet appeared. According to him, 
the worms descend by the trunks of the trees in June, 
and immure themselves in the earth near the trunks, 
and rarely, U ever, more than three to lour feet dis- 



OF FRUIT TREES. 89 

tant ; in grass land from one to four inches deep, and 
in ploughed land not more than to the depth of seven 
or eight inches. He has also ascertained that a part 
of the canker moths lise in the autumn and deposit 
their eggs. They are such as were an inch or two 
below the surface ; those which lie deeper are not af- 
fected by the transient changes of the atmosphere in 
November, and do not rise till spring. The chrysalis 
state comes in twenty-four hours after the larvae has 
penetrated the earth, and it appears that the insects 
are soon perfect, since a course of warm weather has 
been found to raise some of them from the earth in 
November. Those which rise in November are not 
very numerous, compared with those which rise in 
Ihe spring, but being very prolifick are exceedingly 
injurious, if no means are taken to prevent their as- 
cending the trees ; as the winter's frost does not kill 
the eggs. The warmth of the season at the time of 
the descent into the soil is favourable to the perfect 
development of the insect in the chrysalis, particular- 
ly those which are nearest the surface, while those at 
the depth of six or seven inches are longer in coming 
to maturity. The first are perfect in September, and 
require only to be excited to burst from their confine- 
ment; but they cannot be excited until they have 
passed through a degree of cold sufficient to make 
them sensible of the mild temperature of the atmos- 
phere which occurs in November. The excitability 
of such as lie deeper, and are not accessible by c&ld till 
a later period of the season, is not so soon accumulat- 
ed, nor are they sensible of slight changes of temper- 
ature, which afl'ect only the surface ; they, therefore, 
do not leave the earth till the spring, when the warmth 
of the air is longer continued, and penetrates to the 
depth at which they lie. To prevent the dreadful 
ravages of the canker worm, the great object is to 
keep the female from ascending the trees. For this 



90 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

purpose various methods have been proposed. A 
writer in Carey's American Museum, August, 1792, 
saj r s, "Canker worms never destroy apple trees which 
stand on a stiff clay, or in low ground, where water 
stands long in the spring. The reason for this is ob- 
vious. The canker worm, about the 10th of June, 
descends into the earth, there to lie till the next 
spring, when the miller rises and ascends the trees. 
This worm is not strong, nor furnished with the nec- 
essary implements for digging into a hard stiff clay ; 
of course it cannot bury itself in clay, and is not fond 
of gravel. The writer therefore proposes to lay a 
covering of stiff clay round trees which stand on sand 
or other light earth. This covering or layer may be 
thrown upon the top of the natural soil, which may 
be removed to the depth of a few inches. If the clay 
be laid on in summer, after the descent of the worm, 
it may prevent the miller from rising in the spring ; 
if when the worm is upon the tree, it may prevent its 
finding a lodging ; but as in the latter case, the worm 
might travel some distance beyond the limits of the 
layer, it might be better to form the layer round the 
tree after the descent of the worm in June." 

According to Dr. Dean's New-England Farmer, it 
is now about eight} 7 years since New-England was 
first visited by these destructive insects. He observes, 
if any person could invent some easy, cheap, and ef- 
fectual method of subduing them, he would merit the 
thanks of the publick, and more especially of every 
owner of an orchard. Several methods have been 
tried with some degree of success. 1. Tarring. A 
strip of canvass is put round the body of the tree, be- 
fore the ground is open in the spring, and well smear- 
ed with tar. The females, in attempting to pass over 
it, stick fast and perish. But unless the tarring be 
renewed very frequently, it will become hard, and. 
permit the insects to pass safely over it. And renew- 



Or FRUIT TREES* 91 

ing the tar in season is too apt to be neglected, 
through hurry of business and forgetful ness. The in- 
sects are so amazingly prolifick, that if ever so few of 
them get up, a tree is ruined, at least for the ensuing 
season. 2. The pasturing of swine in an orchard Dr. 
Dean supposes to be an excellent method, where it 
can conveniently be done. With their snouts and 
their feet they will destroy many of the insects before 
they come out of the ground ; and he has never 
known any orchard constantly used as a hog-pasture, 
wholly destroyed, or even made wholly unfruitful by 
worms. But this method cannot always be taken ; 
and if it could he does not suppose it would be quite 
effectual. He considers tarring as the preferable an- 
tidote, and gives the following directions for applying 
the article in the most effectual manner. 

In the first place, it is necessary to begin the ope- 
ration very early in »the year. Not observing this 
caution has occasioned the want of success which 
many have complained of; for it is certain that the 
bugs will begin to pass up as soon as the ground is so 
much thawed, that they can extricate themselves ; 
which is, in some years, as early as February. There- 
fore, to make sure work, it is best to begin as soon 
as the ground is bare of snow in that month, that the 
first thawing of the ground may not happen before 
the trees are prepared ; for beginning after ever so 
few of the insects have gone up, the labour will all be 
lost. Another thing to be observed is, to fill the crev- 
ices of the bark with clay mortar before the strip of 
linen or canvass is put on, that the insects may not 
ifrid any passages for them under it. Having put on 
the strip, which should be at least three inches wide, 
drawn it close, and strongly fastened the ends togeth- 
er, a thumb-rope of tow should be tied round the tree, 
close to the lower edge of the strip. The design of 
doing this is, that the tar may not drip, nor run down 



92 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

on the bark of the tree, which would injure it. When 
all the trees of an orchard are thus prepared, let the 
strips be plentifully smeared with cold tar, put on with 
a brush. It should be renewed once a day without fail. 
The best time is soon after sun-set, because the in- 
sects are wont to pass up in the evening, and the tar 
will not harden so much in the night as in the day, 
because of the dampness of the air. The daily task 
must be renewed, and performed with the greatest 
care, till the latter end of May, or till the time when 
the hatching of the worms is commonly over, which 
will be earlier or later, according to the difference of 

climate. 

Another mode of tarring, and which bids fair to be 
preferred to the foregoing, is as follows : Take two 
pretty wide pieces of board ; plane them ; make semi- 
circular notches in each, fitting them to the stem or 
body of the tree ,• and fasten them together securely 
at the ends, so that the most violent winds and storms 
may not displace nor stir them. The crevices betwixt 
the boards and the tree may be easily stopped with 
rags or tow ; then smear the under sides of the boards 
with tar. The tar being defended from the direct 
rays of the sun, will hold its tenacity the longer, and, 
therefore, will not need to be frequently renewed ; 
and the trees may be secured more in this way from 
the dripping of the tar, as a margin of two or three 
inches, next to the tree, maybe left un&meared. 

"The remedy of tarring," says professor Peck, "was 
probably first suggested by the structure of the female 
insect, which, happily for man, has no wings. If this 
remedy were diligently and universally used, it would 
very likely rid us of this pest ; it must, indeed, be 
granted, at a considerable expense. But the negli- 
gence of many will counteract the vigilance of a few, 
whatever remedy may be proposed or discovered. 
Mr. P. recommends, 1st. Turning up the ground care- 



OF FRUIT TREES* 95 

fully in October, as far as the branches of a tree extend, 
to half a spade's depth or five inches, so as completely 
to invert the surface. A great number of chrysalids- 
would thus be exposed to the air and sun, and of 
course be destroyed. 2dly. Breaking the clods and 
smoothing the surface with a rake, and passing a 
heavy roller over it, so as to make it very hard, and 
without cracks. By these two operations every vest- 
ige of their downward path would be completely ob- 
literated, and if any remained undisturbed below the 
stratum of earth which has been turned up, they must 
remain there, as it is utterly impossible for them to 
force their way in the moth or miller state, through 
such an obstruction as this layer of earth would op- 
pose to them. In grass grounds the sods should be 
turned with the grass side down, and placed side by 
side, so as to be rolled ; the earth from which they 
were taken should be loosed and rolled also. It is 
probable, that with this treatment no moths would rise 
in the fall. The winter's frosts would heave and crack 
the smooth surface, but it might be smoothed and har- 
dened by the roller or other means, in March, with 
much less trouble, time and expense, than the long 
course of tarring requires. As lime, when slacked, is 
reduced to an impalpable powder, and is thus well a- 
dapted to close the openings in the surface to which 
it may be washed by rains, Mr. P. is inclined to think 
its good effects are produced in this way as well as 
'by itscaustick quality." 

■ 

Mr. Kenrick's method, of destroying- the Canker Worm. 

John Kenrick, esquire, of Newton, proposes as fol^ 
lows : From any time in June,, after the worms have 
• entirely disappeared, until the 20th of October, let 
the whole of the soil surrounding the trees, to the ex- 
tent at least of four feet from the trunk, and to a suit- 
9 



94 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

able depth, be dug up and carted away to a distance 
from any trees the canker worms are in the habit of 
feeding upon ; and let there be returned an equal 
quantity of compost, or rich earth intermixed with 
manure. The earth taken from the trees will make a 
substantial ingredient in compost. If a few straggling 
canker worms appear on any of the trees the spring 
following, let such trees be marked, that the operation 
may be repeated the succeeding summer. The pro- 
cess proposed will not only accelerate the growth T 
and' increase the fruitfulness of the trees, but will 
prove a considerable guard to them against the depre- 
dations of moles in the winter following ; advantages 
which will abundantly outweigh the whole expense. 
But the pre-eminent advantage obtained, will be to 
have captured those destructive invaders, broken up 
and completely destroyed their encampments. An- 
nual tarring, the only remedy in general use, instead 
of being beneficial to the trees, is allowed on all hands 
to be injurious. The seasons being variable, it re- 
quires considerable care and skill to know when to be- 
gin ; if one day too late, some of the canker moths 
will have ascended the trees ; if four days too early, 
so much labour and tar are lost. The same difficulty 
occurs in knowing when to cease tarring. The busi- 
ness must be attended to exactly in the right time, 
whether it rain or shine, and the operation repeated 
considerably more than twenty times in every season ; 
and the average of various estimates of the annual ex- 
pense of tarring each tr°e amounts to full ten cents. 
The method I have proposed, says Mr. K. appears to 
be perfectly adapted to the convenience of the prac- 
tical farmer. He will avoid the trouble and expense 
of purchasing and applying tar, lime, or any other ar- 
ticle; he can perform the operation when most at 
leisure, and with a certain prospect of ample reward 
/or his labour, even if no damage were apprehended 



I tRVW TRUES. 95 

from the canker worm ; and if the operation is per- 
formed in June, he can raise a crop of potatoes round 
the trees the first season* Hence it is obvious, that 
several very important advantages will be obtained in 
addition to the prime object ; and the prudent farmer, 
who adopts this method, will have in view the most, 
if not the whole, of the following distinct objects : 

1. Extermination of the canker worms. 

2. Growth of the trees. 

3. Fruitfulness of the trees. 

4. Defence against the moles. 

5. Several crops of potatoes, 

6. Manufacture of compost. 

Mr. Kenrick never having had any canker worms 
on his farm, could not personally prove the efficacy of 
the method proposed, by actual experiment. But it 
should be strongly recommended to the attention of 
cultivators of orchards, and it is hoped the publick 
may be made acquainted with the result of every trial. 

John LoweH, esquire, (Mass. Agricul. Repos.) ob- 
serves, that "the expense of tarring an orchard for sev- 
eral years, together with the injury sustained by the 
trees in the common mode of doing it, will be nearly 
equivalent to a total loss. The improvements, intro- 
duced by Mr. Parsons, and other cultivators, of sur- 
rounding the trees with canvass and rope-yarn, and 
stopping the descent of the tar by a bandage of coarse 
hemp, together with the mixture of the tar with oil, 
so as to keep it longer in a soft state, have very much 
diminished the inconvenience of the old practice. 
Still much remains to be desired. The process is im- 
perfect, unless performed as faithfully in the fall as in 
the spring. If your neighbours are inattentive, you 
may be subjected to this labour for ten or twenty 
years, and your orchards will scarcely pay the contin- 
ued and accumulated expense. Something further 
seems to be desirable ; some mode more simple, less 



S6 CtnLTtfftE AND MANAGEMENT 

expensive, more effectual. In the southern states, ] 
perceive, some persons are still ignorant of the natu- 
ral history of this insect, and regret that it has not 
been examined and described by scientific!? men. We 
have nothing left to be desired on this head. The de- 
scription of the canker worm, by professor Peck, is 
very satisfactory, and only leaves us to regret that the 
same ingenuity could not have devised some speedy, 
simple mode of extirpating or checking them. Until 
some effectual mode is discovered, I think we should 
make constant experiments, and communicate fully 
the results, in the hope that if our trials shall not prove 
in every case successful, they may stimulate others to 
more happy ones. 

"I had understood that Mr. Josiah Knapp, of Bos- 
ton, was induced to try the effect of air-slacked lime. 
He put it round one of his trees in the spring of 1 8 1 4, 
and I have been assured, not only by him, but by 
another respectable friend who examined it, that it 
was fully successful. The tree was in a small garden 
in Boston, surrounded with other trees, which were 
filled with the worms, and this one wholly escaped, 
except that a few appeared to have attacked its ex- 
tremities, where they were interlocked with the other 
trees. 1 mentioned this fact to a Rhode-Island gen- 
tleman, who informed me that, in that state, they had 
used the rubbish collected from the breaking of flax, 
and it had effectually prevented the rise of the insect. 
I resolved to make the experiment of lime on an ex- 
tensive scale. As the insects rise in the fall, 1 deter- 
mined to put the lime on in autumn. For this pur- 
pose 1 had the turf dug in around sixty apple trees, 
and the earth laid smooth. I then took three hogs- 
heads of effete or air-slacked lime, and strewed it an 
inch thick round my trees, to the extent of about two 
or three feet from the roots, so that the whole diame- 
ter of the opening was from four to six feet. I tarred 



OP FRUIT TREES, 97 

these trees as well as the others, and although I had 
worms or grubs on most that were not limed, I did 
not catch a single grub where the trees were limed, 
I do not mean to speak with confidence ; I am, how- 
ever, strongly encouraged to believe the remedy per- 
fect. It was ascertained by professor Peck, that the 
insect seldom descended into the ground at a greater 
distance than three or four feet from the trunk, and 
to the depth ©f four inches, or that the greater part 
come within that distance. The lime is known to be 
destructive to all animal substances, and I have little 
doubt that it actually decomposes and destroys the in- 
sect in the chrysalis state ; at least, I hope this is the 
case. There are many reasons which should encour- 
age the repetition of this experiment. The digging 
round the trees is highly useful to them, while tarring 
is very injurious. The expense is not great ; a man 
can dig round fifty large trees in one day. The lime 
is a most salutary manure to the trees. After the spot 
has been once opened and limed, the labour of keep- 
ing it open will not be great. Three hogsheads of 
air-slacked lime, or sweepings ofa lime store, will suf- 
fice for fifty trees, and will cost three dollars. As it 
is done but once a year, I think it cannot be half so 
expensive as tarring. I repeat it, sir, that 1 mention 
my experiment with great diffidence, as being the 
first of my own knowledge. It may induce several 
persons to try it in different, places, and where trees 
are surrounded with others which are treated differ- 
ently. All I pray is, that it may prove to be success- 
ful, and relieve us from this dreadful scourge, which 
defaces our country, while it impoverishes and disap- 
points the farmer. If it should succeed, Mr. Knapp 
will merit the thanks of the publick for his ingenious 
experiment." 

The foregoing valuable communication from one so 
highly deserving of confidence, it is hoped will have 
*9 



U8 CULTURE AN© MANAGEMENT 

its proper influence, and encourage every proprietor 
of an orchard to make the experiment whenever the 
canker worm shall again menace us with its ravages. 
The application of lime, appears to be by far the most 
eligible remedy that has heretofore been proposed. 
It forms, after being exposed to rain, a hard crust, im- 
penetrable to moths or worms If it should be gene- 
Tally adopted, it is very probable that these pernicious 
insects will be finally exterminated. It might be prof- 
itable to make the experiment upon a small scale, by 
confining some of the moths or worms, in their differ- 
ent states, in a box of earth, and applying the lime, so 
as to ascertain how far they will be able to progress 
through it, and whether the lime will have the effect 
of decomposing them. It has already been intimat- 
ed, (page 61,) that flax-rubbish and sea-weed, might 
be laid round orchard trees so as to prove a remedy a- 
gainst these insects. Those substances, when beaten 
down by rains, soon become so firm and solid, as to 
prevent the growth of grass, and I should judge it 
would be impossible for the insects to penetrate 
through them. 

It was recommended by Dr. Dean, to endeavour to 
effect the destruction of canker worms through the a- 
gency of swine. These animals appear to possess a 
natural instinct directing to search with their snouts 
for vermin and insects, which conceal themselves in 
the earth. They should, when circumstances permit, 
be suffered to run unrestrained, in orchards, during 
autumn and spring, for that purpose. A general re- 
sort to this expedient, might have a happy tendency 
in preventing the annoyance of these, and other in- 
sects, in our orchards. 

It is well known, that several species of birds leed 
voraciously upon the canker worm, and other tribes 
of insects ; it would be advantageous, therefore, to 
encourage the increase of the feathered tribe, by all 
the means in our power* 



OP FRUIT TREES. $3 



CATERPILLAR. WEB-WORM. PHAL^ENA NEUSTRIA* 

These vermin are so truly disgusting in their nature 
and appearance, and so injurious by their devasta- 
tions, that every farmer should consider it disgraceful 
to suffer his orchard to be infested by them ; yet it is 
not uncommon to see numerous branches of valuable 
fruit trees entwined with nests, filled with these in- 
dustrious reptiles, by which the foliage and fruit are 
destroyed. During an excursion this season, 1 have 
witnessed the disgustful sight of more than twenty 
large caterpillars' nests on a single tree, and almost ev- 
ery green leaf devoured. It would consist more with 
the interest and credit of the proprietor, were such 
neglected trees no longer permitted to encumber the 
ground. 

The eggs from which caterpillars are produced, are 
attached in clusters to the small twigs by a brownish 
coloured miller, in the month of August, and are se- 
curely covered with a gummy substance, unsuscepti- 
ble of injury by the weather during winter. The 
young brood is hatched by the warmth of the sun, just 
in time to prey upon the fresh leaves as they appear 
in the spring. The numerous family from each clus- 
ter of eggs, immediately unite in the labour of con- 
structing a nest of strong web, which affords them -a 
shelter from the inclemency of the weather, and a se- 
cure retreat from the dews at night. They continue 
to feed upon the leaves until about the last of June, 
when they abandon their habitation, and stroll to 
some dry, secure place, where they envelop themselves 
in a close covering of an egg-shaped, roundish ball, 
very similar to the cocoon of the silk worm. In this 
chrysalis state, they continue a few weeks, and in the 
month of August they burst forth in the form of a 
brownish coloured miller, the female of which soon 
flings her way to the apple trees? and deposits her 



100 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

eggs on the twigs, in the same manner as her progeni- 
tor in the preceding year. Thus is an annual progeny 
generated, and in this manner is the species perpetu- 
ated. It will therefore appear evident, that if proper 
care be taken to d» stroy these vermin annually, and 
if all proprietors of orchards will act in concert with 
this view, the species may be entirely annihilated. 
The clusters of eggs which contain the young brood, 
very nearly resemble in colour the bark of the tree, 
but by a vigilant search they may be detected, and at 
any leisure time after the month of August, the twigs 
to which they are attached, should be cut off, and 
burnt, or the eggs otherwise destroyed. But when 
this is omitted, and the caterpillars are hatched, and 
have constructed their nests, and are rambling among 
the branches for food, a different method must be a- 
dopted. The trees during the spring and first part of 
summer should be carefully searched every two or 
three days, in the morning or evening, while the in- 
sects are enclosed in their tents, when they are easily 
crushed with the fingers, or some instrument, or the 
branch may be cut off and destroyed. It is asserted 
that spirit of turpentine, or common fish oil, applied 
to the nest, will penetrate through, and kill every 
caterpillar within it ; and it is also said, that soap suds 
•will answer the same purpose. The honourable Tim- 
othy Pickering has communicated to the Mass. Agri- 
cultural Society, an eligible method of exterminating 
caterpillars, more especially when their nests are con- 
structed on the extreme branches of large trees not 
accessible by ladders. It consists of a brush made of 
hog's bristles introduced between two stiff wires, close- 
ly twisted, similar to the common brush for cleaning 
the inside of bottles. Apiece of wire full one tenth 
of an inch in diameter, about three feet long, doubled, 
^and leaving a small loop in the middle, is closely twist- 
ed for the length of about eight or ten inches from the 



OF FRUIT TREES. 101 

loop ; and then the bristles being introduced between 
the remainder of the two branches of the wire, and 
these closely twisted, upon them the bristles are im- 
moveably fixed ; and thus is formed, after being uni- 
formly sheared, a cylindrical brush, about six inches 
long and two and a half in diameter. This brush is 
fastened to the end of a long pole, having a groove a- 
bout seven or eight inches long at the small end, in 
which the twisted wire of the brush was laid and 
bound on with strings. In using the brush, press it on 
the nest, and turing the pole in the hand the web is 
entangled with the bristles and removed ; or other- 
wise, you rub the fork of the limb inside and outside 
with the brush, when the nest and worms are surely 
killed or brought down. The pole may be longer or 
shorter according to the distance which you have to 
reach. Numerous other methods have been from 
time to time suggested for the destruction of these 
vermin, but they may be destroyed with great facility 
by a little industry, with the hand or the brush, if re- 
peated two or three times a week during their season. 
It has recently been ascertained that some of the in- 
sects or millers which deposit their eggs from which 
the caterpillar is produced, are left in old nests after 
the caterpillars have deserted them in the month of 
June. The destruction of the old nests therefore, and 
the insects contained in them, before they have time 
to deposite their eggs in August for the next year, will 
prove the most effectual method ot destroying these 
troublesome vermin for all future seasons and eventu- 
ally of annihilating the whole tribe* 

THE WORM CALLED THE BORER. 

An interesting paper by W. Denning, Esq. on the 
subject of the alarming decay of apple trees, is insert- 
ed in the first volume of the transactions of the New 



f02 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

York agricultural society ; from which it appears, 
thai on cutting down some apple tiees, which were 
far decayed, he discovered two worm holes running 
perpendicularly, from the tap root, through the heart. 
These holes were large enough t© admit a pipe stem, 
and reached about fourteen inches above the surface; 
and from each hole a worm was taken. In some trees 
eight or ten holes were found. Mr. Denning proposes 
no remedy ; but Dr. Mease, editor of the domestick 
encyclopedia, observes, that the worm must be search- 
ed for with a wire, and bored out. The publickare 
particularly indebted to J. Prince, Esq. and to Mr. E. 
Hersey, of Roxbury, for their mode of destroying 
this pernicious insect. 

From the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, volume iv. 
On a worm which attacks the apple tree. By John Prince, 
Esq. 

Jamaica Plains, July, 1819. 

Dear Sir, — I have, within a few years past, lost a 
number of apple trees of from ten to fifteen years old, 
and was not able to account for it. My young trees 
also, that were beginning to bear, produced chiefly 
wormy and knurly fruit. The last year 1 found what 
I supposed to be the cause, which was a small, white, 
ringed worm, about three quarters of an inch long, 
with a dark coloured head, (1 believe the same that 
attacks the peach tree,) attacking them at and just be- 
low the surface of the ground. I mentioned the sub- 
ject to professor Peck, \ourself, and several other 
gentlemen, who had never heard of this destroyer of 
the apple tree. 1 feared much the loss of my trees, 
of which I have near one thousand, and mostly of my 
own planting. This spring, a man, who was grafting 
for me some old trees, told me he had trees that had 
been affected in the same way, and that they were 
very easily got rid of, by digging round the trees, and 



OF FRUIT TREES. 10* 

clearing away the earth to the roots, and then, with 
a sharp pointed knife, a chisel, or gouge, (and a small 
wire to probe, if they were deep in the tree,) they 
were easily destroyed. I employed him in June for 
this purpose. 1 believe there was not an apple tree 
on my farm but had some worms ; and from some of 
them twenty-four were taken ; and the trees almost 
entirely girdled, and would not, probably, have lived 
through the year. After taking out all that could be 
found, the wounds were covered over with grafting 
clay, and a large proportion of dry wood ashes, mix- 
ed, and the earth then returned to the tree. I shall 
have them again examined this fall, and looked at ev- 
ery spring. The trouble is much less than would be 
imagined, till tried. One capable man will dig round 
and turn the sods, two or three feet from the tree, 
(and which is also extremely beneficial to young trees 
in grass ground,) and examine at least thirty trees in 
one day ; and in garden, or ploughed ground, one 
hundred. 

When it is found how little expense is required to 
extract these destructive little worms, 1 do hope those 
persons who have young trees particularly, would ex- 
amine them as soon as possible. They are soon dis- 
covered by the worm casts, or saw-dust borings, which 
should be followed, and wholly extracted. 

I have also lost several mountain ash and quince 
trees by, 1 believe, the same destroyer. 

The borer, says Mr. Hersey, rarely exceeds one 
inch in length ; it has a reddish head, and its bod}' is 
white. It is sometimes mistaken for the apple worm, 
but it differs in its nature from that insect. The egg 
which produces the borer is deposited very near the 
surface of the earth, and is seldom found more than 
three or four inches below or above the surface of the 
ground : it sometimes however is discovered in the 
crotch of the tree. The insects enter the trunk of 



104 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

the tree at the distance mentioned above, and ascentf 
from sis to fifteen inches ; in their progress they never 
interfere with each other, and therefore every borer 
inflicts a different wound upon the tree. They do 
not injure the outward bark, and excepting occasional- 
ly by the worm casts or saw dust thrown out of their 
holes on the surface of the ground, there are no ex- 
ternal marks of their being within the tree, until its 
unfruitfulness and decay prove that its deadliest ene- 
my has attacked it. The method of discovering ifthe 
bortrs have commenced their ravages, is to dig round 
the tree to the depth of three inches, and if after cut- 
ting the outer bark, the inward bark be decayed, it is 
certain that the insect is within, and that unless it be 
taken out, the tree will certainly die. Mr. Hersey 
was in one season employed to examine upwards of 
four thousand trees, and in most of them he found 
from two to thirty borers. He saved many valuable 
fruit and mountain ash trees from being ruined by this 
worm. 

Report of a Committe to whom was referred the application of 
Mr. E. Hersey. 

The committee appointed by the trustees of the 
Massachusetts agricultural society, to inquire into the 
facts relative to the destruction of the worm called 
the borer, whkh has of late years been so injurious 
to the 3pple trees in this neighbourhood ; and to as- 
certain whether any thing be due to the exertions 
and adroitness of Mr. Ebenezer Hersey, of Roxbury, 
housewright, and generally known as a successful 
grafter, in destroying this troublesome and voracious 
insect, beg leave to report :— That they find, although 
it be uncertain whether Mr. Hersey was the first per- 
son who discovered the easy mode now practised by 
him, in taking the insect from the body of the trec r 
yet they are satisfied that the great advantage which- 



OF FRUIT TREES. 105 

the publick are like to derive from the extirpation of 
this worm, is principally owing to the exertions and 
cleverness of Mr. Hersey in this branch of his pro- 
fession ; and they recommend that a premium be a- 
warded him of twenty-five dollars. 

Your committee feel it incumbent on them to state, 
for your information, that Mr. Hersey has extirpated 
the insect in at least a thousand apple trees on one 
farm in Roxbury ; that he has probably saved many 
thousands in other parts of that town, and its neigh- 
bourhood, either by his personal attendance and la- 
bour, or by the information which he has given to 
others on the subject ; that he has restored to vigour 
and soundness many valuable peach trees that were 
gummy, and rapidly declining, from the effects pro- 
duced by this, or a similar worm ; that he has traced 
them to the mountain ash, and saved many of those 
beautiful trees from perishing : and your committee 
have no doubt, if, from his example, the farmers of 
this commonwealth will examine their orchards, and 
cut out those insects from their trees, wherever found, 
they will, in a short time, feel the benefit of their at- 
tention, in the increased and improved quality of their 
fruit. 

Your committee feel it their duty also to add, that 
from their own experience, they feel assured, that 
all those who can command the services of Mr. Her- 
sey, will find it more economical to employ him to 
perform this work, than to undertake it themselves ; 
as his experience and original profession of house- 
wright, acquainted with the use of tools, enables him 
to do it not only more thoroughly, but very much 
quicker than any one can who has not been in the 
practice of the art. 

The seasons when this operation is performed with 
most effect, are the spring and fall ; and if in the- 
spring, before the month of June,,as the perfect in - 
10 



106 CULTURE AND MAff'AtfMfitfF 

sects escape before that time. In apple and moun 
tain ash trees, the existence of the animal in the tree 
may generally be known, by the mossy appearance 
on the bark; and it may be traced by removing a 
little earth from the body of the tree, next above the 
insertion of the great roots. Although the hole at 
which the insect enters, is, in many instances, very- 
small, yet it is easily discovered by an appearance ot 
powdered wood, or fine saw dust, which is thrown 
out by the worm ; — here you may introduce your 
chisel, and follow his track. Cut the bark smooth, 
and when you have cleansed the tree of all the in- 
sects, (of which there are sometimes as many as 
twenty to be found,) plaster the wounds over with 
a little clajr, and when it is dry, restore the earth to 
its place. The operation should be renewed the suc- 
ceeding season, to make the work complete. In peach 
trees the insect is traced by the gum ; but as this is 
also produced by bruises, it is not infallible. 

Samuel G. Perkins,) ^ .,. 
T n ' > Committee. 

John Prince, } 

Note. — If the frost be out of the ground, we recom- 
mend to farmers to perform the spring cleansing as 
early as March and April. 

Boston, April 16. 

Having so happily discovered a method of destroy- 
ing this pernicious reptile, it still remains extremely 
desirable to devise some means by which its success- 
ful attack upon the tree may be prevented. We are 
unacquainted with the natural history of this worm, 
but it is highly probable that it is the progeny of the 
fly which deposits its eggs in the bark of the peach 
tree. Whether this be the fact, or whether it derive 
its existence from some source in the earth, it is rea- 
sonable, from its habit, to suppose that the soil or 
mould is congenial to its nature, and that native in- 



<0f fttXjVt TREfeS. 107 

istinct directs it to enter the tree, for its future resi- 
dence and support. The most obvious mode of pre- 
vention, therefore, which reflection has suggested, is 
the following. Early in the spring, let the soil from 
around the trunk of the tree be removed, down to 
the roots, and fill up the vacant place with some sub- 
stance that would prove obnoxious to the fly or worm, 
or that would infallibly resist its powers to penetrate 
the bark. Among the substances which appear most 
likely to prove successful, I will mention the flax 
rubbish and sea-weed, page 61 of this volume. The 
next which occur, are ashes, lime, sea-shells, sea-sand, 
mortar-rubbish from old buildings, clay, tanner's bark, 
fragments of leather from the tanner's and shoema- 
ker's shops, &c. Some, or perhaps any of the above- 
mentioned substances, if pressed closely round the 
trunk of the tree, must inevitably prevent the fly or 
worm from having access to the bark, and of course 
prove an effectual remedy. Should it be the case, 
that the worm advances from some distant part in 
search of the tree, it is possible, on meeting foreign 
substances, to which it has not been habituated, its 
instinctive faculties may be baffled, or it may die be- 
fore it can effect its object. Besides the expedient 
just described, another remains to be mentioned ; it 
is the application of the clay paint, pa^e 79, or the 
following composition, which is preferable. Take 
equal parts of quick lime, cow dung and clay, which 
by the addition of soap suds and urine, should be re- 
duced to the consistence of common paint. To make 
it more adhesive, add a little hair. Let the whole 
stem, from the roots to the branches, be enveloped 
with a coating of this composition, and occasionally 
repeated, and it will scarcely be possible for the fly or 
worm, or insects, to injure the trunk of the tree ; 
and it will at the same time prove conducive to its 
health and vigour. It might even be recommended 



108 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

to make this application to all young trees, at the 
time of transplanting, especially in places where the 
worm is known to prevail. 

It appears that this destructive worm is rapidly 
extending its ravages among our orchard trees. In 
attending to the examination of my own trees since 
writing the above, (September 4th,) 1 was astonished 
to find that more than half of them were suffering in- 
jury by the borer, in considerable numbers, fifteen 
being taken out of a single tree; I was struck with 
the remark of the workman, that those trees which 
were surrounded by a cluster of root suckers, were 
in particular the greatest sufferers^ and when the tree 
had suckers on one side only, the worms were found 
on that side of the tree. It is not improbable that the 
suckers and leaves facilitate the operation of deposit- 
ing the eggs by affording a convenient shelter for the 
fly or moth ; but we are destitute of the natural his- 
tory of this insect. The suckers and worms all being 
removed, I directed the wounds made in the trees, 
and also the whole trunk near the surface of the 
earth, to be covered with a mixture of clay and cow 
dung, with a little hair to render it more adhesive ; 
and afterwards a circuit of about three feet round 
each tree, to be covered with tanner's bark, or sea- 
weed. It is now known that the ravages of the bor- 
er are not confined to the root of fruit trees, but are 
found in the whole extent of the trunk, and even to 
the larger branches; and that in some local situations, 
instead of abandoning the trees in June, they contin- 
ue to perforate the bark and prey upon the wood 
the most of the summer. It seems requisite, there- 
fore, to guard diligently against this insiduous enemy 
during the whole season. 



Ofr FRUIT TREES. 109 

SLUG WORM, OR NAKED SNAIL. 

It is from the accurate observation of professor 
Peck, that we are enabled to present the reader with 
the history of the slug worm, by which, of late years, 
our fruit trees have been infested. These reptiles 
make their appearance upon the leaves of fruit trees, 
in the month of July, and our ingenious professor has 
discovered, that they are the progeny of a small black 
fly, which deposits its eggs in the leaf in the months 
of May and June, and in fourteen days after the de- 
posit, the perfect slug is found adhering and feeding 
on the leaves. It is of an olive colour, with a slimy 
coat, and in the course of twenty days, it throws off 
four skins, at nearly equal periods ; it remains in the 
fifth, or last viscous skin, six days, and acquires its 
full growth; it then quits this fifth skin, which is 
left adhering to the leaf, and appears in a clean yellow 
one, entirely free from vicidity, and has so different 
an aspect that it would not be supposed to be the 
same larvae. After resting some hours, it. proceeds 
slowly down the tree to the earth, into which it en- 
ters to the depth of from one to four inches ; and in 
about eighteen days they again ascend from the 
earth, in the form of flies, and these again deposit 
their eggs in the leaf; so that they produce two 
hatchings in a year. 

It is happy for the fruit planter that a simple 
method is discovered, by which these destructive in- 
sects may be effectually destroyed. This is done 
by means of lime sprinkled over the leaves in the 
form of powder. For tnis purpose, a wooden box, of 
convenient size, having its bottom perforated with 
numerous small holes, is to be filled with lime. This 
being mounted on a pole, by shaking over the tree, 
distributes the lime among the ieaves, and the slugs 
are immediately destroyed. The labour is very triv- 

10* 



110 CULTURE ANB MANAGEMENT 

lal ; a man may cover a large tree in three or four 
minutes; and the desired effect is certain. Fine 
earth shaken through a basket or perforated box, will 
answer equally well. 

Another remedy, it is said, will prove equally ef- 
fectual. It is a strong infusion of tar, made by pour- 
ing water on tar, and suffering it to stand two or three 
days, when it becomes strongly impregnated. This, 
if sprinkled over the leaves bv means of an engine, 
will kill these vermin instantaneously. A strong de- 
coction of tobacco will probably produce the desired 
effect, and tanner's bark put round the tree, it is said, 
will have a salutary tendency as a preventive. 

The following letter from E. Perley, esquire, is ex- 
tracted from the Massachusetts Agricultural Reposi- 
tory, vol. 3, page 144. 

LICE, INFESTING YOUNG ORCHARDS, IN THE D1STICT OF 
MAINE MODE OF DESTROYING THEM. 

"This insect, called lice, is in form like half a ker- 
nel of rye, (but not more than one twentieth part so 
large,) with the flat side sticking to the smooth bark 
of the tree. They resemble blisters; and are near 
the colour of the bark of the tree. These blisters 
contain from ten to thirty nits or eggs each, in form 
like a snake's egg ; which, in a common season, begin 
to hatch about the 25th of May, and finish about the 
10th of June. These nits produce a white animal- 
cule, resembling a louse, so small they are hardly per- 
ceptible by the naked eye ; which, immediately after 
they are hatched, open the passage at the end of the 
blister, and crawl out on the bark of the tree ; and 
there remain, with but little motion about ten days ; 
when they stick themselves fast to the bark of the 
tree, and die. From tkis little carcass arises a small 
speck of blue mould, which is most plain to be seen 



•F FRUIT TREES. Ill 

between the 10th and 20th of June, and continues 
about fifteen days ; and then gradually wears off, 
until the old carcass appears, which by this time is 
formed into a new blister, and contains the spawns or 
nits before mentioned. 

"These blisters prevent the circulation of sap, and 
prove as fatal to the tree as the canker worm. 

"In order to remedy the difficulty, 1 have made 
many experiments within a few years ; but long to no 
good effect, not knowing then the particular season 
when these animalcules could be most easily destroy- 
ed. This, however, I have lately found to be be- 
tween the time they hatch, and that when the mould 
leaves them.* The application that I have found 
most effectual is, washing the trees with lie or brine. 
Lime, also, mixed with lie, to the consistence of 
white wash, may be useful. And although the small 
branches cannot be cleansed in this manner without 
much difficulty, still, if the body of the tree, and the 
branches near the body are kept clean until there 
comes a rough bark, I think the lice will not kill the 
tree* 

" Some people have recommended the application 
of train oil to the tree, which, indeed, is a powerful 
antidote against lice, but being of a glutinous quality, 
is very detrimental to the tree. Inoculation has been 
proposed ; which, I think, will have no effect at all 
on the lice; for 1 perceive they hatch in May, on 
branches that were pruned off the tree in March, and 
the sap entirely extinguished. 

" These lice are natural in the uncultivated forest 
on what is called moose-wood, and other bushes. 

"Much care should be taken on their first appear- 

*" It appears from this account, by Mr. Perley, that these 
appearances can, in general, only occur between May 25, and 
July 5." 



112 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

ing in an orchard or nurseiy ; as the cutting down 
and destroying a few young trees is of no impartance, 
compared with the difficulty of having an orchard 
overrun with them. 

"P. S. The brine or pickle, with which the tree 
is to be washed, should not be such as has had meat 
salted in it; but let one quart of common salt be dis- 
solved in two gallons of clean water." 

Asa remedy against these lice, the clay paint, men- 
tioned, page 79, may be recommended. If this were 
properly applied to the trunk and branches of the 
tree after the eggs are hatched, it would so complete- 
ly envelop the insects as probably to counteract their 
mischievous effects. A pretty strong solution of pot- 
ash would perhaps prove a very effectual remedy 
against lice, but on account of its caustic quality it 
must not be used too freely. A strong decoction of 
tobacco would probably prove a remedy. 

CIRCULJO. 

The following is extracted from the Domestic En- 
cyclopedia, edited by Dr. Mease. 

" The editor is indebted to his excellent friend, 
Dr. James Tilton, of Wilmington, Delaware, for the 
following original and very valuable communication, 
on the subject of the insect, which has been so active- 
ly engaged in destroying the fruit of Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, (and, probably, of the other states,) for a 
few years past. It were to be wished, that other 
gentlemen among us, who have opportunities, would 
be equally attentive with Dr. Tilton, in communica- 
ting their observations upon this subject of rural econ- 
omy. 

" Curculio, a genus of insects belonging to the 
cohoptera, or beetle order. The species are said to be 
Very numerous. The immense damage done, by an 



OP FRUIT TREES. 1 13 

insect of this tribe, to the fruits of this country, of 
which there is no similar account in Europe, has 
given rise to a conjecture, with some naturalists, that 
we have a peculiar and very destructive species in 
America.* 

;; The manner in which this insect injures and des- 
troys our fruits, is by its mode of propagation. Ear- 
ly in the spring, about the time when our fruit tree* 
are in blossom, the curculiones ascend in swarms from 
the earth, crawl up the tree?, and as the several fruits 
advance, they puncture the rind or skin with their 
pointed rostra, and deposit their embryos in the 
wounds thus inflicted. The maggot, thus buried in 
the fruit, preys upon its pulp and juices until, in most 
instances, the fruit perishes, falls to the ground, and 
the insect, escaping from so unsafe a residence, makes 
a sure retreat into the earth ; where, like other bee- 
tles, it remains in the form of a grub or worm during 
the winter, ready to be metamorphosed into a bug or 
beetle as the spring advances. Thus every tree 
furnishes its own enemy ; for although these bugs 
have manifestly the capacity of flying, they appear 
very reluctant in the use of their wings; and perhaps 
never employ them, but when necessity compels 
them to migrate. It is a fact, that two trees of the 
same kind may stand in the nearest possible neigh- 
bourhood, not to touch each other,, the one have its 
fruit destroyed by the curculio, and the other be un- 
injured, merely from contingent circumstances, which 
prevent the insects from crawling up the one, while 
they are uninterrupted from climbing the other. 

"The curculio delights most in the smooth skinned 
stoned fruits, such as nectarines, plums, apricots, &c. 

*This is a 'bug- about the size of that which is found in the 
pea in its dry state. No fruit should be suffered to rot under 
trees, as it is by this means that the Curculio is annually prop- 
agated. 



1 1 4 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

when they abound on a farm : they nevertheless at- 
tack the rough skinned peach, the apple, pear, and 
quince. The instinctive sagacity of these creatures 
directs them especially to the fruits most adapted to 
their purpose. The stone fruits more certainly per- 
ish by the wounds made by these insects, so as to fall 
in due time to the ground, and afford an opportunity 
to the young maggot to hide itself in the earth. Al- 
though multitudes of such fruits fall, yet many recover 
from their wounds, which heal up, with deeply in- 
dented scars. This probably disconcerts the curculio, 
in its intended course to the earth. Be this as it may, 
certain it is, that pears are less liable to fall, and are 
less injured by this insect than apples. Nectarines, 
plums, &c. in most districts of our country, where 
the curculio has gained an establishment, are utterly 
destroyed, unless special means are employed for 
their preservation. Cherries escape better, on ac- 
count of their rapid progress to maturity, and their a- 
bundant crops: the curculio can only puncture a small 
part of them, during the short time they hang upon 
the tree. These destructive insects continue their 
depredations from the first of May, until autumn. 
Our fruits, collectively estimated, must, therefore, be 
depreciated more than half their value. 

"It is supposed the curculio is not only injurious a- 
bove ground, but also in its retreat, below the surface 
of the earth, by preying on the roots of our fruit trees. 
We know that beetles have, in some instances, abound- 
ed in such a manner as to endanger whole forests. 
Our fruit trees often die from manifest injuries done 
to the roots by insects, and by no insect more proba- 
bly than the curculio. In districts where this insect 
abounds, cherry trees and apple trees, which discon- 
cert it most above, appear to be the special objects of 
its vengeance below the surface of the earth. 

"These are serious evils ; to combat which, every 



OF FRUIT TREES. 11£ 

scientiikk inquirer is loudly called upon to exert his 
talents; every industrious farmer to double his dili- 
gence ; and all benevolent characters to contribute 
their mite. 

"Naturalists have been accustomed to destroy vic- 
ious insects, by employing their natural enemies to 
devour them. We are unacquainted with any tribe 
of insects able to destroy the curculio. All the do- 
mestick animals, however, if well directed, contribute 
to this purpose. Hogs, in a special manner, are qual- 
ified for the work of extermination. This voracious 
animal, if suffered to go at large in orchards, and a- 
mong fruit trees, devours all the fruit that falls, and 
among others, the curculiones, in a maggot state, 
which may be contained in them. Being thus gene- 
rally destroyed in the embryo state, there will be few 
or no bugs to ascend from the earth in the spring, to 
injure the fruit, Many experienced farmers have not- 
ed the advantage of hogs running in orchards. Mr. 
Bordley, in his excellent '"essays on husbandry,' takes 
particular notice of the great advantage of hogs to or- 
chards : and although he attributes the benefits de- 
rived from these animals to the excellence of their ma- 
nure, and their .occasional rooting about the trees, his 
mistake in this trivial circumstance does by no means 
invalidate the general remarks of this acute observer. 
The fact is, hogs render fruits of all kinds fair and un- 
blemished, by destroying the curculio. 

"The ordinary fowls of a farm-yard are great de- 
vourers of beetles. Poultry, in general, are regarded 
as carnivorous in summer, and therefore cooped some 
time before they are eaten. Every body knows with 
what avidity ducks seize on the tumble bug, (scarabmis 
carnifex,) and it is probable the curculio is regarded by 
all the fowls as an equally delicious morsel. There- 
fore it is, that the smooth stone fruits, particularly, 
succeed much better in lanes and yards, where the 



116 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

poultry run without restraint, than in gardens and oth- 
er enclosures, where the fowls are excluded. 

"Even horned cattle, and all sorts of stock, may be 
made to contribute to the preservation of our valuable 
fruits. By running among the trees, they not only 
trample to death multitudes of these insects, but by 
hardening the ground, as in lanes, it becomes very un- 
fit to receive or admit such tender maggots as crawl 
from the fallen fruits. Besides, the curculio is very 
timid, and when frightened by the cattle rubbing a- 
gainst the tree, or otherwise, their manner is to roll 
themselves up in a little ball, and fall to the ground, 
where they may be trampled and devoured by the 
stock, poultry, &x. Colonel T. Forest, of German- 
town, having a fine plum tree near his pump, tied a 
rope from the tree to his pump handle, so that the 
tree was gently agitated every time there was occa- 
sion to pump water. The consequence was, that the 
fruit on this tree was preserved in the greatest per- 
fection." 

To the foregoing valuable communication of Dr. 
Tilton, I will add a fact of which the Doctor was prob- 
ably unapprised. Instead of retreating into the earth, 
a part of the worms at least, abandon the apple before 
it falls from the tree, and locate themselves under the 
scales of the bark, and in the crevices of trees. In 
making search this day, 25th September, I have de- 
tected a considerable number of apple-worms in that 
condition, entirely secure from the weather. This 
circumstance will shew the great utility of proper ap- 
plications to the trees, both in the fall and spring, for 
the destruction of insects. All the rough bark should 
be carefully removed, and the trunk and large branch- 
es should be thoroughly washed with Forsyth's com- 
position, page 78, or a strong decoction of tobacco- 
with the addition of a small quantity of quick lime, 
which should be applied to every crevice which can. 
afford shelter for insects or their eggs^ 



OF FRUIT TREES. 1 1 7 

GATHERING AND PRESERVING APPLES. 

The fruit orchard having attained to that produc- 
tive state, in which the proprietor is about to remune- 
rate himself for his labour and attention, it is still re- 
quisite to exercise due judgment and discretion in the 
grateful employment of collecting his crop. The in- 
judicious method commonly practised in gathering ap- 
ples is more destructive in its consequences than is 
generally understood. The first requisite is, to ascer- 
tain precisely when the fruit is fully ripe, as it is said, 
that the longer winter apples are suffered to remain 
on the trees, provided they are not overtaken by frost, 
the longer they may be preserved. In hot climates, 
and in hot seasons, fruit attains to maturity and ripe- 
ness earlier than in colder ones, because the sap per- 
forms its office more rapidly. It may be considered 
a correct rule, that apples are ripe when those that 
are sound and fair fall naturally from the trees, or 
separate very readily on being lifted by the hand. 
They should be gathered during a clear dry air, after 
the dew has evaporated. According to the late phi- 
losophick Dr. Darwin, in order to ascertain when 
fruits, for instance, apples and pears, are sufficiently 
ripe forgathering, it is requisite to attend to the col- 
our of the skin enclosing the seeds. During their in- 
fant state, there is no cavity round the kernels, but 
they are in contact with the seed vessels. In a subse- 
quent period, when the fruit has exhausted the nutric- 
ious matter, the cells containing the seeds become hol- 
low, and the latter assume a dark colour. This, Dr. 
D. observes, is the proper criterion by which to judge 
when such fruits should be gathered ; as it indicates 
that they will not continue to increase in size, but 
waste and become hollow, by absorbing the mucilagi- 
nous particles from the centre. In gathering apples 
and pears, it is necessary carefully to avoid injuring 
11 



118 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

the blossom buds, which are already formed for the 
next year's fruit. These buds are placed at the side 
of the foot stalk of the fruit, and if the spurs are brok- 
en, there will be no fruit on that part the next season. 
The pressing against the trees, therefore, with heavy 
ladders, and the rash practice of thrashing the limbs 
with poles, ought to be entirely abandoned ; for by 
such means, the bark and limbs are bruised, and the 
blossom buds for the succeeding year are destroyed. 
Instead of ladders, stepping frames should be employ- 
ed, and a pole, furnished with a hook at the end, and 
covered with coarse cloth, may be used to shake the 
small limbs, without injuring the bark. When per- 
fectly ripe, apples for cider may be shaken off without 
injury to the buds, but still they will be bruised, un- 
less the ground be covered with blankets or straw. 
Particular care is requisite in gathering winter fruit 
for keeping : they should be gathered by the band, 
and without injury, removing them from the gather- 
ing basket to the casks prepared for them, with great 
care : if bruised, they soon decay ; and the less those 
that are sound are moved, the better. When in bar- 
rels, they should be placed in a dry, cool, shaded situ- 
ation, above ground, and remain until endangered by 
frost, and then put into the cellar. 

The following valuable observations, contained in a 
letter from N. Webster, esquire, have been published 
in the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, from 
the Connecticut Courant. 

PRESERVATION OF APPLES. 

"It is the practice with some persons, to pick them 
in October, and first spread on them on the floor of 
an upper room. This practice is said to render ap- 
ples more durable, by drying them. But I can affirm 
this to be a mistake. Apples, i( remaining on the 



OF FRUiT TREES. 119 

trees as long as safety from the frost will admit, should 
be taken directly from the trees to close casks, and 
kept dry and cool as possible. If suffered to lie on a 
floor for weeks, they wither and lose their ilavour, 
without acquiring any additional durability. The 
best mode of preserving apples for spring use, I have 
found to be, the putting them in dry sand as soon as 
picked. For this purpose, I dry sand in the heat of 
summer, and late in October put down the apples in 
layers, with a covering of sand upon each layer. The 
singular advantages of this mode of treatment are 
these: 1st. The sand keeps the apples from the air, 
which is essential to their preservation. 2dly. The 
sand checks the evaporation or perspiration of the ap- 
ples, thus preserving in them their full flavour — at the 
same time, any moisture yielded by the apples, (and 
some there will be,) is absorbed by the sand ; so that 
the apples are kept dry, and ail mustiness is prevent- 
ed. My pippins, in May and June, are as fresh as 
when first picked ; even the ends of the stems look 
as if just separated from the twig." 

An English writer recommends the use of dry pit 
sand, for the preservation of apples and pears. Glaz- 
ed earthen jars are to be provided, and the sand is to 
be thoroughly dried. A layer of sand, an inch thick, 
is then to be placed in the bottom of the jar; above 
this, a layer of fruit, to be covered with a layer of 
sand, an inch thick ; then lay a second stratum of 
fruit, covering again with an inch of sand. An inch 
and a half of sand may be placed over the uppermost 
row of fruit. The jar is now to be closed, and placed 
in a dry, airy situation, as cool as possible, but entire- 
ly free from ftost. Wheat bran is sometimes substi- 
tuted for sand. 

"One of the most easy methods,''' says Dr. Darwin, 
"of preserving fruit is, that of depositing it in ice-hou- 
ses, where it may remain in a frozen state for a cor- 



120 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

siderable time. And if the fruit be afterwards gradu- 
ally thawed, by covering it with melted ice, or im- 
mersing it in cold spring water, it will lose but little 
of its flavour, provided it be consumed on the same 
day." 

Mr. Forsyth gives the following directions for pick- 
ing and preserving fruit. "All apples, pears, &c. 
ought to be carefully picked by hand, and laid in bas- 
kets containing dried grass, to prevent them from be- 
ing bruised ; and if they fall spontaneously, some dry 
barley straw, or pease haulm should be prepared for 
their reception on the ground ; in the latter instance, 
the fruit ought to be separated from, and sent to table 
before that which is collected by hand ; and such as 
may be accidentally bruised ought to be reserved for 
culinary purposes, because it cannot be long kept in a 
sound state. When all the fruit is collected, it should 
be conveyed to the store room, laid gently, in small 
heaps, on dried grass, and their tops be covered with 
short grass, in order to sweat. Here it may remain 
for about a fortnight, during which time, each apple, 
pear, &c. must be occasionally wiped with a dry 
woollen cloth, and those exposed on the surface should 
be placed towards the middle of the heap. At the end 
of this period, all watery ingredients that may have 
been imbibed during a wet season, will be evaporated ; 
the heaps should then be uncovered, and each article 
carefully wiped ; separating those which may be in- 
jured, or unfit for keeping. During this process of 
sweating, the windows of the store room, excepting in 
wet or foggy weather, ought to be continually open, 
in order to discharge the moisture perspiring from the 
fruit. Mr. Forsj'th then directs, as the best method 
of preserving fruit, to pack them in glazed earthen 
jars, each apple and pear to be wrapped separately in 
soft papers, &c. Few persons will be disposed to sub- 
ject themselves to such expense and trouble, by adopt- 



OF FRUIT TREES. 121 

mg the directions of Mr. F. I should prefer the fol- 
lowing mode : take a quantity of clay, let it be thor- 
oughly dried in the sun, and reduced to fine powder ; 
and while packing apples in dry casks, instead ot sand, 
let each layer by covered with the clay powder. This 
will secure them from the air, absorb the moisture that 
exudes, keep the fruit cool and dry, and preserve their 
flavour. The fruit thus packed may 7 be removed im- 
mediately from the tree into the cellar. It is a good 
practice adopted by some persons, to store their ap- 
ples on long broad shelves erected against the walls 
of a cellar secure from frost. These shelves may be 
constructed one tier above another, and the apples 
carried directly from the tree and spread so as 
to lay separately. This method has been found to 
answer every purpose; the apples may be sorted oc- 
casionally with little trouble without bruising, and the 
expense will be less than if barrels are employed. A 
captain of a whale ship has just informed me that he 
has found the best method to preserve vegetables (po- 
tatoes and beets) on a long voyage, is to pack them in 
lime casks and to sift some air slacked lime over them ; 
this absorbs the moisture, secures them from the ef- 
fects of heat, and prevents in a great measure, pota- 
toes from sprouting. By this method he has preserv- 
ed potatoes»over a year in a better condition than by 
any other. He is of opinion that this would be an 
eligible method for preserving apples and pears, and I 
have resolved this season to test the experiment ac- 
cordingly. 



n 



122 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

LIST OF APPLES 

HELD IN MOST ESTIMATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

An accurate technical list of the various sorts of ap- 
ples known in the United States, would be consider- 
ed an acquisition of importance ; but their names are 
derived from such various and capricious causes or in- 
cidents, that a correct list cannot be easily accomplish- 
ed ; some have received names descriptive of the 
fruit, and others are derived from the places where 
they have been first found, or from the original culti- 
vator. But a serious misfortune is, in several instan- 
ces the same fruit bears many different names in dif- 
ferent places ; which subjects the planter to much in- 
convenience, as it not unfrequently happens, that 
grafts of a supposed new variety are obtained from a 
distance, under a different name, which eventually 
prove to produce the same kind of fruit, with which 
his orchard already abounds. It is very desirable 
that fruit should be known by the same name in all 
places ; with this view it will be useful when writing 
or speaking of any fruit, to give an accurate descrip- 
tion of it and its qualities, with the tree by which it is 
produced. By such means, ^different varieties may 
be identified, and in due time a catalogue may be form- 
ed, much to the convenience and satisfaction of everv 
cultivator. William Coxe, esquire, of Burlington, 
New-Jersey, possesses the most extensive orchard and 
cider establishment, it is presumed, in the United 
States, consisting of more than four thousand apple 
trees, besides other fruit. This gentleman has favour- 
ed the publick with a view of the cultivation of fruit 
trees, &c. which contains a descriptive list of one hun- 
dred and thirty-three varieties of apptes, which are 



QF FRUIT TREES. 123 

cultivated on his own plantation. To this list may 
he added others, in various parts of the union, amount- 
ing, probably, to several hundreds. The following is 
from Dr. Mease's edition Domestick Encyclopedia : 
"The family of Prince, at Flushing, Long-Island, have 
been many years celebrated for their fine fruit, and 
some of the choicest kinds to be met with, in various 
parts of the United States, have been brought from 
their nursery. A very extensive and excellent col- 
lection of fruits, both imported and native, were orig- 
inally commenced about ten years since, by William 
Coxe, esquire, of Burlington, New-Jersey, and is now 
for sale by I. Smith & Co. at that place. In this grand 
collection, there are eighty kinds of apples, (now one 
hundred and thirty three,) ninety kinds of pears, and 
fifty-one of cherries, nearly all imported, and one 
hundred varieties of peaches. Mr. Samuel Coles, of 
Moor's town, New-Jersey, has also an excellent col- 
lection. Several French gentlemen, who have taken 
up their residence near Philadelphia, have done much 
in a few years towards improving our stock of fruits, 
by importing largely of the finest kinds from France ; 
and there can be no doubt, if we take pains to propa- 
gate from the valuable stock in our power, that in a 
few years, the nighbourhood of Philadelphia may 
boast of as fine a collection as can be desired. 

"Under the article apple, some important remarks 
were given on this subject ; the editor has now great 
pleasure in presenting to the American publick the 
first attempt ever made to collect, in one view, a list of 
the finest kinds of apples growing in the United 
States. For the materials, of which this list was com- 
posed, he has been indebted to Mr. William Prince, 
of Long-Island, Mr. R. Riley, of Marcus Hook, Ches- 
ter county, William Coxe, esquire, of Burlington, and 
the honourable Judge Boudinet, of Newark, New- Jer- 
sey i through whom, also^ the valuable facts from Mr» 



124 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

John Ogden, of Newark, and from Mr. Asa Hillyes, 
of Orange, Essex county, New- Jersey, were obtained ; 
and he, with thanks, expresses his obligations to them 
for their ready assistance and communication. At- 
tentive, however, as his friends have been, he cannot 
suppose that the list comprehends every apple in the 
United States ; but he is satisfied, that the most valu- 
able have been described, and he will gladly receive 
accounts of any others, which may have been unno- 
ticed, and add them to the list, should another edition 
of this work be called for." 

John Kenrick, esquire, and sons, of Newton, near 
Brighton, have for several years been engaged in a 
nursery establishment consisting of a handsome collec- 
tion of fruit and ornamental trees and shrubs. From 
their long experience they are enabled to conduct such 
an establishment with much advantage ; and by the 
aid and encouragement of several gentlemen who are 
in the habit of importing horticultural productions 
from abroad, their nursery is continually increasing in 
variety and improving in character. They are par- 
ticularly desirous to discard all such fruit as are known 
to have become deteriorated or subject to blast, and to 
cultivate such only as stand high in the opinion of 
connoisseurs as possessing superior qualities. 

From the ample catalogues of Dr. Mease and Wil- 
liam Coxe, esquire, and from other sources, 1 have se- 
lected a list of those which are held in most estima- 
tion, and such as are generally in demand at market. 

Those marked c. are cider apples. 
'1. American pippin, c. u was brought from Maryland 
to Marcus Hook, thirty years since. Itisofa flatfish 
form, middle size, firm substance, resembling the van- 
devere, and will keep till harvest. Mr. Coxe de- 
scribes it as a long fruit, having a dull red slripe. 
Fourteen bushels of these apples are required, at Mar- 
cus Hook, to make one barrel of cider." (Mease.) 



OP FRUIT TREES. 125 

2. American nonpariel, or doctor apple, in Pennsyl- 
vania. "Will keep from November to March. A 
large red-striped apple, of excellent flavour, and very 
juicy. It keeps tolerably well during winter. The 
tree is subject to blast." 

3. Autumn, or Fall pippin, "Ripens in October. 
A large yellow apple, acid taste, and pleasant flavour. 
It is also a good kitchen apple. It usually weighs 
nineteen ounces. Keeps weir." 

4. AunCs apple. "This is a beautiful and large ap- 
ple, of an oblong make, resembling the Priestly in 
shape ; the skin smooth, streaked with a lively red, 
on a yellow ground ; the flesh is yellow, breaking and 
juicy ; of an agreeable flavour, but not rich. It ripens 
in November, and, from its handsome appearance, is a 
valuable market fruit. The tree is small, the growth 
delicate, and its fruitfulness great. It is extensively 
cultivated in several of the eastern counties of Penn- 
sylvania." (Coxe.) 

5. Baldwin apple* or Pecker apple ; is a very valua- 
ble red apple, targe and beautiful, fine flavoured, and 
will keep till April. It is in high estimation in Mas- 
sachusetts, 

6. Baltimore apple* In the transactions of the hor- 
ticultural society of London, published in 1817, it is 
stated, that a large apple, raised in the garden of Mr. 
Smith, near the city of Baltimore, was exhibited ; it 
had been recently imported by captain George Hob- 
sou, of Baltimore, who sent it to sir Joseph Banks, by 
whom it was presented to the society. This apple, 
of which an engraving accompanies this account, 
weighed one pouty! seven and a half ounces; it meas- 
ured in circumference one foot two inches and three 
quarters, and in height as it stood, was four inches, it 
proved very good, thoogn over rip** ; it was very 
close at the core, and, if a good bearer, will deserve 
general cultivation. The drawing is coloured, and 
very interesting. 



126 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

Note by the editor of the American Farmer* 
"The apple here spoken of grew on the farm of Rob- 
ert Smith, where, we are authorized to state, cuttings 
may be had for grafting-' 7 

7. Black apple, " Ripe in November ; a very deep 
red. A much-admired fruit near Treuton, New Jer- 
sey. Mr. Boudinot, of New Jersey, says, u there is 
an apple lately discovered here, which is called by the 
owner of the orchard, a black apple* It appears to be 
a species between the Spitzenburgh and common 
black apple." (Mease.) 

8. Brownile, In Mr. Riley^s opinion, this is excell- 
ed by none for the table. It is ripe in September, and 
keeps well. It was discovered by Rowson, an old 
Swede, near Marcus Hook. 

9. Bow apple. Ripens in June and July ; — equal 
to any summer apple. It is juicy, tender, and mild 3 
of a light yellow colour. 

10. Bell flower, "A long yellow apple, of good 
flavour, very large, and excellent for the table, and 
for cooking. When fully ripe, which is in October, 
the seeds may be heard to rattle, when shaken. 
This beautiful apple will keep well through the win- 
ter ; and it is held in great estimation in the Phila- 
delphia market." 

11. Bullock's pippin, or sheep's snout. This is a na- 
tive of New Jersey, and is sometimes called the long 
torn. It is in high repute, in autumn and the first 
part of winter, for its rich and sprightly juice, and is 
much admired when baked. 

12. Campfield, or Newark sweeting, c. " Is a large 
sweet fruit, of a pale red colour; ripens about the be- 
ginning of October, and keeps well, if carefully pick- 
ed. Being a rich fruit, it is necessary to mix the 
Harrison apple with it in order to refine the cider 
produced from it." 

13. Cat-head, "This is a very large, round apple, 



OP FRUIT TREES. 127 

flattened at the ends, and deeply hollowed : the stalk 
is short and thick, so deeply sunk as to be almost im- 
perceptible : the colour a greenish yellow, the flesh 
white : a good apple for cooking and drying, but apt 
to drop from the tree, from its great weight ; and de- 
ficient in point of richness and flavour." (Coxe.) 

14. Catline, c. A Delaware autumn cider fruit, 
and considered a pleasant eating apple, in its season. 
The tree is very productive, and an early bearer. 

15. Carthouse, or gilpin, c. " This apple is said to 
have been brought from Virginia. It is highly es- 
teemed for its excellence as a table apple, late in the 
spring, and as a good cider fruit. It is a most abun- 
dant bearer, and hangs on the tree very late in the 
season. The tree is hardy ; of a handsome, open, 
spreading, and vigorous growth: the fruit is small; 
the colour a deep red, and sometimes a little streaked 
with yellow; the skin of a polished smoothness; the 
form inclining to oblong. The flesh is very firm, 
yellow, and rich ; not fit for eating until mid-winter, 
when it becomes juicy, tender, and finely flavoured." 
(Coxe.) 

16. Cider apple, c. "The apple propagated under 
this name is highly esteemed, as a most productive 
and excellent cider fruit, in the county of Bucks, and 
the contiguous parts of Pennsylvania. The size is 
middling ; its appearance resembles the vandevere ; 
the skin is smooth, a lively streaked red : it is a pleas- 
ant table fruit, but is chiefly used for cider. The 
tree is tall ; the limbs shoot upward. It is sometimes 
loaded with fruit, beyond any other tree in our or- 
chards ; requiring great care to prevent the branches 
being destroyed by the weight of fruit. It ripens in 
October and November." (Coxe.) 

17. Codling, The codling, called also the English 
codling, is a very fine fruit for pies and stewing, and is 
also a pleasant table apple. It grows very large and 



128 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

fair ; the form is oblong, rather irregular ; the skin to 
a bright, though pale yellow, with a fine blush, fre- 
quently, towards the sun ; it is somewhat pointed to- 
wards the blossom end ; the stalk short ; the flesh 
white, tender and sprightly. The tree is uncommon- 
ly handsome, vigorous and fruitful ; bearing very 
young, and constantly ; the leaves are large ; it makes 
a fine appearance in an orchard. The fruit is fit for 
stewing from the first ef August, but does not become 
fully ripe until the end of that month, and continues 
in season till late in October. It is one of the profit- 
able apples for market ; ripening gradually, and be- 
ing very free from rot." (Coxe.) 

18. Corlles sweet, c. "This is a large, fair apple, 
rather long in shape, of a bright yellow colour, smooth 
skin, a faint blush, and a few small grey specks ; the 
stalk is short, and of a middling thickness ; the flesh 
is coarsely grained, white and sweet ; it ripens in 
September and October, but will keep later for cider, 
for which it is highly esteemed. The tree grows vig- 
orously, with a deep green foliage, and round head : 
it is a great bearer. It was brought from East Jer- 
sey." (Coxe.) 

19. Coopers russeting, c. "Keeps from October to 
May. A natural fruit, produced on the farm of Jo- 
seph Cooper, of New Jersey, who believes it to be of 
Indian origin ; as the tree, from which he (when a 
} r oung man) preserved a graft, was an old decayed 
tree, and the place on which it grew was originally the 
site of an Indian village. It is somewhat dry, but of 
a pleasant sweetish taste. This apple makes most 
excellent cider : it is also a good pie apple, and best 
when not pared. Pears, boiled in russeting cider, 
with about half sugar, make a good preserve. The 
trees bear abundantly every second year : the limbs 
spread horizontally, and are short. This excellent 
fruit, being justly esteemed, is much propagated by 
engrafting, in New Jersey." (Mease.) 



©F FRUIT TREE-, 129 

20. Flat sweeting, or hornet sweeting, from the' cir- 
cumstance of its being a favourite of hornets, on ac- 
count of its rich, sirupy juice. This is a flat apple, 
thin skin, and of a yellowish colour ; flesh white, and 
juice saccharine and pleasant. Ripe in September, 
and will keep several months. It is doubtful whether 
this fruit is known out of the county of Plymouth- 
Its origin not ascertained. 

21. Gloucester white, c. "The apple is of a 
middling size ; of a shape not very uniform, varying 
from an oblong to a flat form ; the colour, when ripe, 
is a bright yellow ; rich, breaking and juicy ; of a fine 
flavour, as a table apple ; and producing cider of an 
exquisite taste. The stalk is of the ordinary length, 
inserted in a cavity of medium depth ; the crown is 
moderately deep ; the time of ripening is about the 
first of October, after which the fruit soon falls, and 
is fit for cider : it does not keep long, but while in 
season, is a delicious table apple. The tree is very 
thrifty, hardy and vigorous ; of a regular and beauti- 
ful form, and very productive. It is much cultivated 
in the lower counties of Virginia ; from whence I 
procured it, as an apple of high reputation." (Coxe.) 

22. Golden pippin. "Keeps from October to Janua- 
ry ; slightly acid ; yellow on one side, and red on the 
other : it is a good apple, according to Mr. Riley, and 
was brought from England by William Penn. It suc- 
ceeds best on a sandy soil," 

23. Golden rennet, "A beautiful and excellent ap- 
ple, of a bright yellow tint, marked on the south side 
with faint red streaks, and yellow brown dots ; its 
flesh is remarkably tender, and of a glossy white yi 
the juice has the taste and flavour peculiar to pine ap 
pies, and which is also found in the golden pippin : 
when stored, it ripens in December, but attains to per- 
lection only in February. The tree has a healthy ap- 
pearance, and is of a middling size." 

12 



130 CULTURE AND &AfrAGEIu£N' 



\ 



24. Green everlasting, "Light green colour ; skin 
remarkably smooth and fair. This apple keeps well 
until late in the summer, and some have kept perfect- 
ly sound more than a year from the time they were 
gathered." (Mease.) 

25. Green Newton pippin, c. "It is of a flattish form, 
and green colour, when first gathered, turning yellow 
in the spring, and is justly esteemed the best table ap- 
ple in America. It is supposed to have come origin- 
ally from Holland, but Mr. Prince says, it originated 
in the town of Newton, Queen's county, Long Island, 
state of New-York. In general, apples, kept till the 
spring, lose their flavour, and become mealy, but the 
Newton pippin may be kept till June, without losing 
either its juice or flavour. It is an excellent apple for 
cider, either alone or mixed with others. Many va- 
rieties are raised from the seed of it, of a large size, 
but different in form and colour. Mr. Riley, of Mar- 
cus Hook, says, there are two varieties raised at New- 
ton, in Chester county. The flat sort is much the 
best, and the greatest bearer. It is an excellent apple 
for house use ; makes a large quantity of cider, though 
of a thin quality. A large long kind, sometimes call- 
ed lady-finger, is not so good ; the taste is not so pleas- 
ant, and they have a thick skin. This apple is of a 
beautiful golden colour in the spring. The trees of 
both those varieties grow larger, and are great bear- 
ers. Forsyth remarks, that the Newton pippin sel- 
dom ripens in England. Mr. Cooper, of New Jersey, 
remarks, that the Newton pippin does not thrive in 
a sandy soil." (Mease.) 

26. Grey house, c. "Mr. Riley, of Marcus Hook, 
thinks this is not excelled by any for making cider : 
it is of a middling size, reddish grey colour, ripe in 
October. Cider is made of it in November. The 
tree bears but every other year, and then is heavily 
loaded. It is a very tender fruit, though late in blos= 



05 1 FRUIT TREES. 131 

soming. At the time of the formation of this fruit, it 
is very subject to perish by easterly winds, attended 
by cold rains, which frequently cause the apples to 
fall offin abundance, sometimes to the loss of the whole 
crop ; and, on an average, the tree does not succeed 
in bearing a good crop above one fourth of the time. 
It was first discovered by P. Roman, in his township, 
(Marcus Hook,) by a natural tree, that grew close to 
his house ; hence called his house tree, and by some, 
Roman knights. This tree is ot a middling size, in- 
clines to grow low, and is short lived. Twelve bush- 
els of these apples are required to make a barrel of cin- 
der." (Mease,) 

27. Hagloe cra6, c. "According to Mr. Marshall, a 
gentleman in Herefordshire, England, Mr. Bellamy, 
produces cider from the Hagloe crab, which, for rich- 
ness, flavour, and price on the spot, exceeds, perhaps, 
every other fruit liquor, which nature or art have 
produced. He has been offered sixty guineas for a 
hogshead, containing one hundred and ten gallons of 
this liquor." William Coxe, esquire, of Burlington, 
New-Jersey, having cultivated this fruit, describes it 
as follows : "The fruit, when fully ripe, has a yellow 
ground, streaked with bright red; the size about mid- 
dling ; the form round, flat at the ends ; the stalk 
large ; the flesh remarkably soft and woolly, but not 
dry ; the taste acid, but highly flavoured ; the quanti- 
ty of juice smaller, in proportion to the fibrous matter, 
than in most other apples, requiring nearly one third 
more of the hagloes for a barrel of cider, than of com- 
mon fruit ; the juice, though uncommonly clear, h 
singularly rich ; and though the smell of the apple is 
faint, the flavour of the cider is high, and, when prop- 
erly manufactured, is very rich. The colour of the 
flesh is pale, but that of the cider, dark; it ripens in 
August and September; keeps a long time without rot- 
ting ; it bears abundantly and early ; the growth ei 



132 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 






the tree is very uncommon ; thick strong shoots ; 
buds, particularly at the extremity of the branches, 
very large ; the colour of the wood dark ; the size of 
the tree is small. The Hagloe is an uncommon fine 
cooking apple ; and from its great beauty and large 
feize, added to its abundant bearing, is a valuable mar- 
ket fruit." 

28. Harrison apple, or long slem,c. "It is of a mod- 
crate size, and of a rich dry taste, with a tartness, that 
renders its sweetness agreeable and lively. It ripens 
about the beginning of November ; keeps a long time, 
and answers well for culinary purposes. The cider 
made from this apple is clear, high celoured, rich, and 
lively. General Washington was presented with a 
barrel of it, by judge Boudinot, of Newark, New-Jer- 
sey, and he declared his preference of it to that made 
from Hughes's Virginia crab. This fruit originated 
in Essex county, New-Jersey, where it is now very 
extensively cultivated. The cider from this fruit sells 
from eight to ten dollars per barrel. Mr. Coxe ob- 
serves, "as a more vinous, rich, and highly flavoured 
liquor, I prefer the Harrison to the crab cider." 
(Mease.) "One tree of this kind, this year, (l 81 7,) in 
an orchard in Essex county," says Mr. Coxe, "produc- 
ed upwards of one hundred bushels, eighty-seven of 
which were gathered, when fully ripe ; the others 
were fallen fruit, carefully measured, to ascertain the 
quantity." 

29. Harty meetings c. A small yellow apple ; ri- 
pens in autumn, and is considered a valuable cider ap- 
ple^but not very useful for other purposes. 

30. High-lop sweeting. This tree, it is believed, is 
peculiar to the old Plymouth colony. The first set- 
tlers, either from choice, or for want of other vane- 
ties, cultivated it more generally than any other ap- 
ple. It is now much on the decline. 7 he fruit is 
under the middle size ; of a yellowish colour, pleas- 



u>>F FRUIT TREES, 133 

ant taste ; but chiefly used for baking, and for drying* 
It is ripe in August, and is not Jong preserved. The 
tree is remarkable for its Jong upright stem. 

31. Holmes apple, c. Was first planted by J. Holmes, 
esquire, of Kingston, Plymouth county. He set in 
the ground a small sprout, without knowing its quali- 
ties, and in the eleventh year he gathered from it 
thirty bushels of apples. It is now much admired, 
and extensively cultivated, in this vicinity. The tree 
bears young, and every year; th _• more abundantly 
every second year. The fruit is of a middling size ; 
the skin white, with a blush on the sun side. Ripe in. 
November ; keeps through the winter ; has a pleasant 
flavour, and makes good cider. 

32. Holttn sweeting, c. It is among the excellences 
of this tree, that it flourishes on a thin soil, and that it 
bears remarkably early, and very uniformly. Ripe 
in September, and is an excellent fall apple for family 
use, and for cider of the first quality. It is desefving 
of general cultivation. No account of its origin has 
been obtained. 

33. Hughes's Virginia crab, c. "A small fruit, of a 
light green colour, striped with red, and of a harsh 
unpleasant taste. Originated in Virginia ; and is high- 
ly valued as a cider fruit, as its must is less disposed, 
from its great acidity, to rise too high in fermentation, 
than that of any other apple ; and it has, besides, al- 
most every other property of a cider apple. The 
trees bear abundantly ; the fruit ripens late, and is 
free from rot of any kind ; the fruit is small and hard, 
and, therefore, bears the fall from the tree without 
bruising. It grinds small, and the pulp is remarkably 
tough, yet parts with its juice readily ; and the must 
runs from the press very fine and clear. 

34. Lady apple, Pomme d'Apis. This is of French 
origin ; of a bright red colour next the sun, and yel- 
low and green on the other side. A most beautiful 

*12 



34 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 



\ 



Kttle apple, and of pleasant taste. It keeps well dur- 
ing the winter, and is a much admired dessert apple. 

35. Lady finger. A long, tapering fruit, of a beau- 
tiful yellow and red colour. It is well flavoured, and 
keeps until June. The tree bears abundantly. 

36. Large red and green sweeting. Ripens in Sep- 
tember. A very large fruit, weighing a pound. Red, 
streaked on a yellow ground ; the flesh sweet and 
tender. 

37. Large early harvest. "Ripens in June and Ju- 
ly. It is usually as large as a middle sized Newton 
pippin ; of a pale yellow colour, when ripe ; of a pleas- 
ant acid taste, and answers best for tarts, and may be 
used for that purpose, when no larger than a nutmeg ; 
but cutting them in two equal parts, without peeling." 
(Mease.) 

38. Loring sweeting. The apple, known by this 
name, was brought from the county of Bristol, by Mr. 
E. feoring, of Plympton, Plymouth county, and is 
much cultivated in this vicinity ; its origin, or the 
name by which it is distinguished in other parts of 
the country, 1 have not been able to ascertain. The 
fruit is large and fair ; of a pale yellow colour ; the 
flesh is sweet, and extremely pleasant ; abounding in 
a rich sirupy juice ; and, as a baking apple, it is of 
superiour excellence. It ripens in autumn, and re- 
tains its good properties till March. This fruit ought 
to be introduced into every orchard. 

39. Large yellow Newark pippin — Yellow pippin — 
French pippin of Newark, c. "Abounds near Newark, 
New Jersey ; an excellent winter apple, of a greenish 
colour outside, rich saccharine taste, yellow substance, 
and of a higher flavour than the Newton pippin. It 
is so abundant in juice, that a barrel of cider has been 
made from seven bushels ; but the cider is not of the 
first quality. It is said to have been imported from 
France." (Mease.) 



8F FRUIT TREES. 135 

I 

40. Maiden's blush, "This is an apple of large size, 
and great beauty ; exhibiting a lively contrast--a yel- 
low ground, with a bright red cheek ; whence it de- 
rives its name, given to it by Samuel Allison, esquire, 
late of Burlington, who first brought it into notice : 
the form is flat, the skin smooth, the flesh white, ten- 
der and sprightly ; remarkably light, and fitted for 
drying, for which it is preferred to any apple of the 
season ; the stalk is short, and grows in a deep hol- 
low, as does the eye : the fruit ripens in August, and 
continues in perfection till the end of September ; 
and is fit both for pies and the table. The tree is un- 
commonly handsome, as well as vigorous in its growth ; 
forming a fine open and spreading head : it bears a- 
bundantly and constantly, and is a \ery popular ap- 
ple in the Philadelphia market." (Coxe.) 

41. Michael Henry. "A winter fruit ; a long green 
apple, much admired for the table, in Monmouth coun- 
ty, New-Jersey* It is a sweet, juicy, sprightly and 
well flavoured apple." 

42. Monstrous pippin, or American gloria mundi. "It 
originated on the farm of Mr. Crooks, near Red Hock, 
in New-York. It is of a yellow colour, when ripe, 
and resembles in flavour the fall pippin, or piplin. It 
will keep from November till March. The fruit of 
the original tree weighed twenty-seven ounces." 
(Mease.) 

43. Morgan apple. "Ripe in October. So named 
by Samuel Coles, of Moorstown, New-Jersey ; as it 
came from the late I. Morgan. A pleasant eating ap- 
ple ; will keep till May. A great bearer." (Mease.) 

44. Newark king apple. "It is a very large red 
fruit ; ripens in October, and when mellow, has a very 
pleasant taste, and is generally used as a winter apple 
about Newark, New-Jersey, though it does not keep 
so well as some others." 

45. Nonsuch. This is a fine red apple, having an 



136 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

m 

agreeable flavour ; will keep sound till late in the 
spring, and is much esteemed in Massachusetts, for 
its good properties. 

46. Nursery apple. "Is the size of the Harrison 
apple. When first ripe it is of a greenish colour, but 
in the latter part of the winter, it turns yellow. It 
is frequently kept until June and July, and has been 
kept sound until September. It originated in a nur- 
sery of Jos. Baldwin, at Cranetown, New-Jersey." 
(Mease.) 

47. Pearmain, c. The winter pearmain is among 
the first cultivated apples by the fathers of the old 
Plymouth colony, and is, undoubtedly, of English de- 
scent. Many trees of this kind are now supposed to 
be more than one hundred years old, and grafted 
trees from them produce the genuine fruit in great 
perfection. The tree is tall and upright, forming a 
handsome regular top : it is hardy, and will flourish 
in a light soil. It is not an early bearer, but when 
attained to about twelve years, from having been 
grafted, it produces more abundantly and uniformly 
than any other kind within our knowledge. The 
fruit is scarcely excelled as a table apple, or for cook- 
ery ; and the cider made from it, is said to be inferiour 
to none. The apple is of a moderate size; fair and 
smooth ; of a reddish colour, interspersed with green 
and yellow ; the flesh a rich yellow ; the flavour slight- 
ly aromatick, and agreeable. There are two or three 
varieties of this apple, but rather of an inferiour qual- 
ity. 

48. Pennoclfs red winter. A large, fair, pleasant, 
spicy, apple ; of an oval, and somewhat flat form ; of a 
reddish colour, it originally came from Jos. Pennock, 
of Springfield township, Delaware county. The tree 
grows large, and is very handsome ; a great bearer, 
and the fruit is in great repute in the Philadelphia 
market* 



\ 



OF FRUIT TREES. 137 

49. Priestly. "Keeps from December to April ; o- 
riginally cultivated in Buck's county, Pennsylvania. 
A large, long, juicy fruit, and of a spicy flavour •, col- 
our red. This tree grows very straight, and is of a 
handsome shape." (Mease.) 

50. Pove-shon, c. "Is a small red apple ; ripe about 
the latter end of September ; of a pleasant flavour, and 
makes good early cider ; for which purpose it is gen- 
erally used about Newark, New-Jersey ." (Mease.) 

51. Pound apple. "This is a large fair apple, very 
showy, the form is flat, the stalk short, and planted 
in an indented cavity : the skin is smooth, a pale yel- 
low, inclining to a green, streaked with a lively red ; 
the flesh of a yellowish cast, mixed with a small portion 
of green ; juicy and sprightly ; well fitted for cooking ; 
it ripens in October, and keeps for several months : the 
tree is large, vigorous and spreading." (Coxe.) 

52. Quince apple. "The tree is of large and vig- 
orous growth, the size of the apple large, the shape 
flat, the skin when fully ripe is yellow, the flesh rich, 
yellow and juicy : in appearance, it somewhat resem- 
bles a large yellow Newton pippin. It came original- 
ly from the state of New-York. Ripens in Novem- 
ber." (Coxe.) 

53. Queen apple. (Summer queen.) "The summer 
queen is an apple of the finest quality, and its appear- 
ance is uncommonly beautiful. The size is large ; 
the skin has a fine, rich, yellow ground, mixed with 
red, handsomely striped and clouded, sometimes in a 
proportion greater than the yellow 5 the blossom end 
is much pointed, and full of little furrows and protu- 
berances ; the stalk is long, and planted in a deep cav- 
ity, with projections of the flesh around the stalk, like 
the Roman stem — the flesh is rich, j T ellow, and high- 
ly scented ; equally suited for eating and stewing. It 
is not fully ripe until the beginning of August, but 
can be used for stewing long before that time : the 



\ 



138 -CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

tree is of a very luxuriant growth, with large leaves, 
and hanging boughs : it is a great and constant bearer : 
it is known by the name of sweets harvest, in many 
parts of New-Jersey." (Coxe.) 

54. Rariton sweeting, c. "Rich flavour, egg-shap- 
ed, makes good cider, which keeps well : brought 
from Rariton, by Mr. Ogden's father. (Mease.) 

55. Red everlasting. "Ripe in November. Its col- 
our deep red, it is a small sized fruit, of tolerable fla- 
vour, and keeps well till June or July, but grows 
mealy and dry." (Mease.) 

56. Redling. "Was brought about sixty years since 
from Pennsylvania to New-Jersey, by the mother of 
Mr. Jos. Cooper, who thinks it is the best keeping ap- 
ple now known. The colour is of a light shining red, 
and of very pleasant smell and taste. They hang on 
well, being suspended at the end of a twig. It some- 
what resembles the Priestly apple." (Mease.) 

57. Red streak, c. "Originally from England — a 
winter fruit ; keeps well, but shrinks ; of a pleasant 
flavour, red with spots, and generally has a russet col- 
oured teat on the lower side. The tree grows straight. 
When used for pies, they need not be pared. The 
cider from this apple is much admired." (Mease.) 

58. Rambo. From Delaware — a fine apple of the 
size of the vandevere ; same shape, and a highly val- 
ued fruit. 

59. Roane's zohite crab, c. "This apple I procured 
from colonel John Roane, of Virginia : the original 
tree was discovered a wilding on bis estate, in the 
year 1 790. In growth it resembles the Hewes crab ; 
the leaves being very delicate, the wood hard, and 
the size of the tree small : it is an early and great 
bearer every second year: the apple is very small, 
not larger than the Hewes crab ; the form is round, 
the stalk thin, the skin yellow, with a small portion 
©f russet about the stem, and spots of red scattered 



OF FRUIT TREES". 135 

over it : the flesh is rich, dry, and of a musky sweet- 
ness ; rough to the taste, from its astringent and 
fibrous properties, and leaving the pomace undissolv- 
ed, after pressing : the liquor is remarkably strong, 
of a sirupy consistence when first made, but becoming 
singularly bright by proper fermentation and racking. 
It will keep perfectly sweet, in casks well bunged, and 
placed in a cool cellar through our summer months : 
the fruit ripens in September and October, and may 
be kept without rotting, for late cider." (Coxe.) 

60. Rhode-Island greening. This is a fine large fair 
fruit, of a green colour when first gathered, and turns 
yellow towards spring. The flesh is rich, juicy, ten- 
der and very yellow. It is a most excellent apple for 
the table, in the first part of winter, and will keep 
and retain its flavour till March, The tree grows rap- 
idly, spreading its luxuriant branches very extensive- 
ly, and inclining towards the earth. It is doubtful 
whether this is the same, or a different variety from 
the Jersey greening. 

61. Roman Stem. " This apple was first propagat- 
ed in the neighborhood of Burlington, New Jersey, 
where the original tree is now standing. It is an ex- 
cellent early winter fruit, much admired for its ten- 
der, mild, juicy and agreeable properties: the size is 
small ; the form round ; the stalk of a singular ap- 
pearance, from a fleshy protuberance of the neigh- 
bouring part, resembling an aquiline nose ; whence 
the apple derives its name : the skin is rough ; the 
colour yellow, with black clouds and spots : the tree 
is of handsome and vigorous growth, with long shoots, 
and great fruitfulness : it is in every respect deserv- 
ing of extensive cultivation." (Coxe.) 

62. Royal pearmain, c. " Is a fine large apple ; 
rather flat in its form; of a rich russet colour, blend- 
ed with red, faintly streaked, and dotted with spots 
of russet. The skin is rough, the flesh a rich yellow, 



140 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

of a very sprightly taste, and firm in its texture : 
when first gathered, rather tart, but becomes both 
sweet and tender by keeping : it is a good table ap- 
ple, and makes excellent cider: the size that of a 
vandevere : it ripens in October, and will keep till 
February and March : it is highly esteemed by the 
planters in Virginia, whence I procured it, from the 
neighbourhood of Richmond : the tree grows tall and 
straight, with a luxuriant foliage, and regular form, 
and is a most abundant and uniform bearer. This 
apple is known in Pennsylvania, and much cultivated, 
under the name of the Merrit's pearmain." (Coxe.) 

63. Royal russet, or leather coat, "This is an apple 
of moderate size, and of a flat form : when ripe, the 
side next the sun is a rich red, intermixed with russet, 
with spots of white : the flesh is well flavoured, 
sprightly and tender ; the stem short and thick, with 
small swellings in the surrounding parts: it is a fine 
cooking apple; keeps well; and bears abundantly. 
It was imported from England, where it is highly es- 
teemed as a valuable winter apple." (Coxe.) 

64. Roxbury russcting, c. This is one of the best 
known, and most valuable fruits in Massachusetts. 
The apple is rather flat, and the colour a yellowish 
russet : it is not fit to eat till February, and is very 
easily preserved till June, when its juice and flavour 
are peculiarly pleasant. The trees are the most con- 
stant to bear, and seldom bear so full as to break the 
limbs ; and the fruit is excellent for cider ; and for 
the table, late in the spring. But the trees require a 
moist situation, and are less likely to thrive well in a 
dry soil, than any other kind of apple. They require 
also more manuring and care than most others, or 
the fruit will be very ordinary. 

65. RuckmarCs pearmain, or golden pearmain, c. 
" Called in New York and East Jersey, the Ruckman's 
or Dutch pearmain ; and in other places, the red rus- 



\ 



GF FRUIT TREES. 141 

set; is a most valuable apple for cider, and for family 
use: the size is middling; the form rather flat ; the 
skin rough, with a large portion of bright russet, 
mingled with red, towards the sun, when fully ripe : 
the flesh is rich, tender, and rather dry : it is a great 
and uniform bearer : the tree grows luxuriantly, with 
strong shoots, and a close, compact head : the fruit 
ripens in November, and keeps well through the win- 
ter." (Coxe.) 

66, Seek no further, "This apple is a native of one 
of the eastern states : it is a large fruit ; of round, but 
oblong form; the skin smooth, of a yellowish green 
colour; the flesh yellow, juicy, rich and tender; an- 
agreeable early winter apple. The tree bears well ; 
the trunk straight and tall, shooting into branches up- 
wards, in a handsome and regular form." (Coxe.) 
The seek no further, or by some called sigriifinger, is 
much cultivated at Raynham, county of Bristol, where 
it probably originated. From its high reputation, it 
is now extending, by engraftments, into various parts 
of Massachusetts. 

67. Spitszenburgh, "Keeps from November to 
March. There are three sorts: theEsopus; Flush- 
ing ; and the Newton. The first, of a light red col- 
our, round form, pleasant flavour, and slightly acid. 
The second is generally larger, and of a deeper red 
colour, covered with small white specks; its form is 
flatter, and is of a more acid taste than the first. The 
third species resembles the second in taste and colour, 
but in form is much flatter. According to Mr. S. De 
Witt, surveyor general of New York, the Spitszen- 
burgh was discovered as an accidental production, in 
the neighbourhood of the city of Albany, and in his 
opinion, may challenge the world to match it. The 
flavour he thinks superior to the Newton pippin. 
Mr. Cooper and Mr. Coles, of Moorstown, New Jer- 
sey, mentioned another kind, called the Cane Spits* 

13 



142 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT 

zenburgh, from a family of that name near Gloucester 
Point, New Jersey, and which they thought superi- 
our to the kinds mentioned above." (Mease.) 

68. Spice apple. "Is a large autumn apple, of an 
aromatick flavour, very tender, and good for house 
use, bat will not keep long. It appears to be peculiar 
to New Jersey." 

69. Styre, c. This is the most celebrated and ex- 
tensively cultivated cider apple in England; and is 
also a good eating apple. The size is above midling ; 
the colour of a pale yellowish white; the flesh is 
firm, and when fully ripe, of a fine flavour : the cider, 
when produced from a light, rich soil, is rich, highly 
flavoured, and of a good body; its price in England is 
frequently fourfold of that of common sale cider: the 
fruit is pale-rinded, but produces a high-coloured li- 
quor. The tree is of a singularly beautiful growth, 
remarkably besom-headed, throwing out numerous 
straight luxuriant shoots, growing upwards from the 
crown, in the form of a willow pollard, running much 
to wood, and, in deep soils, growing to a great size 
before it becomes fruitful. It suits sandy ground. 
By the end of September it is ripe in England ; gen- 
erally the middle of October, in common years, the 
time of gathering. By Mr, Knight's experiment, 
they must outweigh all others, except that of a new 
variety produced by mixing the Lalham green and 
Siberian crab. Marshall states, that nearly one third 
more of Sty re apples is required to produce a barrel 
©f cider, compared with common apples." (Coxe.) 

70. Summer pearmain. "This is one of the finest 
fruits of the season — frequently preferred to a fine 
pear. The size is middling, the form oblong, uniform- 
ly regular — the ends both deeply indented, the colour 
in the shade is dull red, somewhat streaked, and faint- 
ly spotted — in the sun it is frequently of a lively red, 
blended with a rich yellow : the juice is abundant, un- 



OF FRUIT TREES. 143 

til too ripe— the flesh is singularly tender, U frequent- 
ly cracks open on the tree, and bursts from its own 
weight in falling : it is equally adapted to the table 
and stewing, and is probably the most popular apple 
of the season, which commences with the first of Au- 
gust, and (it being very free from rotting) continues 
through that and the following month. The tree is 
of a moderate size, the head very round and close: it 
grows remarkably well on light and sandy soils.*' 
(Coxe.) 

71. Swaar apple. Keeps from November to March. 
A large, yellow, and greenish apple, of good flavour : 
much admired as being a winter table fruit, of supe- 
riour excellence. The trees bear largely. 

72. Sweet greening. A large, handsome apple, re- 
sembling in size and form, the Rhode Island greening. 
Ripens in autumn, and possesses the valuable proper- 
ty of retaining its soundness and flavour till the mid- 
dle of June. It is an excellent apple for baking, and 
deserves to be more extensively cultivated. Its ori- 
gin is uncertain, and it is doubtful whether this fruit is 
known out of the old Plymouth colony. 

73. Tolman sweeting. I have not been able to trace 
to its origin this justly admired apple. In Dartmouth, 
county of Bristol, where it is best known, it is held in 
much estimation for family use during the autumn, 
and through the winter. *The fruit is above the mid- 
dle size, yellow, with a small bluish stripe on one side : 
it is juicy, and the flavour pleasant. 

74. Vandevere, c. "Formerly called stalcubs. A 
well known and most excellent eating fruit; pleasant, 
and sprightly acid, joined with a sweetish taste, and 
much preferred for pies and sauces. Unfortunately 
the trees have greatly failed of late. On a rich heavy 
soil, they are subject to the bitter rot : on a lhght soil, 
not so much so. Mr. Riley, of Marcus Hook, says, 
this apple originally came from Wilmington Dela- 



1 44 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT, &C. 

ware, and was called after a farmer who raised it.*' 
(Mease,) 

75. Vanioinkh, or granniwinhle, c. "Is a large, red, 
and very sweet apple ; rich taste, and fine flavour : 
ripe about the middle of October, when the fruit falls 
and decays so rapidly that it is difficult to preserve 
the apple till the proper time for making first rate ci- 
der. These apples answer best, when mixed with 
half of their quantity of the Harrison apple. Cider 
made from this apple alone, resembles unfermented 
metheglin, and must remain in the barrel until the 
next summer, when it will fine. The tree originated 
in the orchard of Thomas Williams, deceased, accord- 
ing to Mr. Hillyes, of Orange ; but Mr. John Ogden, 
of Newark, says, he was told the first graft was taken 
from a tree belonging to an old lady, Mrs. Van Win- 
kle Poveshon." (Mease.) 

76. Wine apple, c. "An uncommonly large, fair, 
handsome, red apple. The form is round ; flat at the 
ends : the skin is a lively red, streaked and spotted 
with a small portion of yellow ; the stalk end frequent- 
ly of a russet colour; both ends deeply indented; 
the stall: very short : the taste is rich and pleasant ; 
an admired table fruit, and excellent for cooking, as 
well as for cider : it ripens in October, and keeps well 
through the fall and winter. The tree is uncommon- 
ly large and handsome ; the leaves small ; it bears a- 
bundantly ; from its spreading form it does not require 
much trimming : it is probably as saleable an apple as 
any sold in the Philadelphia market. In the state 
and county of Delaware, it is called the Hays winter ! 
and in one place in New-Jersey, the fine winter, and 
large winter red. f have been informed, that the o- 
riginal cultivator of this apple made admirable cider, 
by throwing about one shovel full of sandy loam into 
a pressing, which had an effect in lessening the acidi- 
ty, and made a clear, sweet liquor, by this novel mode 
of fining." (Coxe.) 



\ 



fciDER. 145 

77. Wine sap, c. "An autumn fruit, of a deep red 
colour, and sweet but not sprightly taste ; makes ex- 
cellent cider, which is preferred by some tothat of 
the red streak, cultivated by Samuel Coles, of Moors- 
town, New Jersey/' 

78. Yellow szoeeting, c. "A large, yellow, sweet ap- 
ple, will keep till harvest, makes good cider, and an- 
swers for family use. Mr. J. Ogden's father took the 
scion from an old tree of J. Johnston's, at Connecti- 
cut farms, fifty years ago." (Mease.) 

Scions of the following new varieties have been re- 
ceived by John Lowell, esquire, from that eminent 
English horticulturalist, Mr. Knight : 

Gilliflower apple. Form angular, flesh perfumed and 
remarkably yellow. It is in perfection in winter and 
spring. It would afford a most excellent cider. 

Sweeney nopareil apple. A very large variety of the 
nonpareil, very excellent when well ripened in a 
warm season. It is entirely new. 



€IDER. 

I have now the satisfaction of presenting the most 
ample and approved rules and directions relative to 
the important art of manufacturing and preserving 
that valuable and salubrious beverage, the produce of 
our orchards. The importance of the subject will jus- 
tify the extent and minuteness of detail which occupy 
the following pages, and it is hoped the reader will 
find them, in the perusal, interesting and profitable. 

"The value of fruits, for the manufacture of cider, 
may be judged of from the specifick gravity of their 
expressed juices. The best cider and perry are made 
*1S 



146 CIDER. 

from those apples and pears that afford the densest 
juices; and a comparison between different truits may 
be made with tolerable accuracy, by plunging them 
together into a saturated solution of salt, or a strong 
solution of sugar : those that sink deepest, will afford 
the richest juice." 

The first authority of which I avail myself, is to be 
found in papers on agriculture, by the Massachusetts 
society for promoting agriculture, vol. i. 

"of making and managing cider. 

"From the apple, in our country, we obtain a bev- 
erage highly useful. The wines of other countries 
do not differ more in quality, than the cider of ours. 
And much of this difference arises from improper 
management, either in grinding the apples, or, what 
is more common, putting the must or juice into foul 
casks, and neglecting or mismanaging it while fer- 
menting. Mr. Marshall asserts, that a gentleman in 
Herefordshire, (England,) Mr. Bellamy, produces ci- 
der from an apple called the Hagloe crab, which, for 
richness, flavour, and price on the spot, exceeds per- 
haps every other fruit liquor, which nature or art 
have produced. He has been offered sixty guineas 
for a hogshead of one hundred and ten gallons of this 
liquor. Thus we see how capable the fruit from the 
apple tree is of improvement. We are favoured with 
the observations of a gentleman residing near Phila- 
delphia, on the making and fermenting cider, and his 
directions to preserve the casks that have been used 
for cider. He begins thus : "It would be to little 
purpose, at present, to say much on the kinds of fruit 
capable of yielding the best cider, yet itmay be prop- 
er to mention those most common here, and give them 
a place according to their respective merits. The 
sweet russet, called the pair apple, is unquestionably 



m 



CIDER. 14% 

the richest fruit we have : the house. apple stands sec- 
ond : they both yield xery sweet must, and conse- 
quently, specifically heavier than that of any other 
apple. The Newton pippin yields its must free from 
the finer pomace, and, although not so rich, from that 
circumstance, ferments more moderately, and is soon- 
est fine in the cask. The Spitszenburgh and pearmain 
I do not rank among the cider apples, because they 
seldom afford a must that will bear fermentation,exccpt 
the season be uncommonly dry, or the trees very old. 
The largest and finest fruit grows on young trees, and 
in moist seasons, and these yield the greatest quantity 
of cider. Old trees and dry seasons afford a smaller 
fruit, highly flavoured, and less juicy. The vandevere 
is little better than good water cider. If it be fer- 
mented, it very soon becomes acid, and if not ferment- 
ed, becomes ropy. The red streak, the cockagee, and 
the royal wilding, so famous in England and Ireland, 
are not known here, but the Virginia crab well enough 
supplies the place of them all. This apple deserves 
every possible attention, and its must is less disposed, 
from its great acidity, to rise too high in fermention 
than that of any apple known here. Were there no 
other advantages, this simple one would render it ex- 
ceedingly valuable to the common farmer, who will 
be hardly brought to pay attention to the nice opera- 
tion of fermenting the sweeter fruits ; but it has al- 
most every other good property of a cider apple. The 
trees bear abundantly, the fruit ripens late, and is free 
from rot of any kind ; the fruit is small and hard, and 
therefore bears the fall from the tree without bruising. 
It grinds small, and the pulp is remarkably tough, yet 
parts with its juice readily; hence the must runs from 
the press^very fine. It would be going beyond my 
present onject, to say much more of this apple ; yet I 
cannot forbear observing, that being acid, it will bear 
to stand in the pomace longer than any sweeter apple* 



14B OlDER. 

This fact deserves more attention than is commonly 
given to it ; and if the time and occasion would admit, 
I should indulge myself in speaking largely on it." 

"As the inquiry is how to make the best cider, there 
need not any thing be said of imperfect fruit, or that 
which falls from. the tree early in the season, as they 
cannot be applied to this purpose ; the September gale 
beating down such great quantities of apples, tempts 
the farmer to use them with those that continued long- 
er on the tree. But where this gale happens early, 
the effects are fatal to thecider : for, if they are made 
up immediately, the fermentation rises too high, in 
consequence of the too great degree of heat in the 
air ; and this evil is increased by the imperfect and 
great quantity of juice contained in the fruit ; if they 
remain unground, they become insipid, especially 
those which lay on the ground under the trees ; and if 
gathered in heaps, they are disposed to rot. To make 
the best cider, you must have sound fruit, s gathered 
late in the season, in dry weather, after the middle of 
October, if possible. They should lay in large heaps, 
covered with the dews and rain, about fourteen days; 
in which they heat, and throw off a great proportion 
of their indigested and insipid water, and ripen more 
uniformly than while on the tree, They must not be 
ground while they are wet, either from the rain, the 
dew, or from the moisture thrown out by the heat pro- 
duced by their laying together. The finer the apple 
is ground, the more it will yield. If the mill is well 
fitted, it crushes the seed, and gives a peculiar aromat- 
ick bitter to the must, which becomes more and more 
distinguishable as the cider is longer kept. Some pre- 
fer this flavour, and others dislike it, not distinguish- 
ing it from the bitter of the rotten apples, although 
very different from that pungent bitter, both in taste 
on the palate, and effects in the stomach. If straw is 
used in forming the cheese for the press (cloth made of 



CIDER. 149 

hair is best, but very expensive) it must be clean from 
?iisf;'f6r there is no liquor which more readily imbibes 
and betrays offensive taste than cider. Too bard 
pressing on the cheese, before it is sufficiently closed, 
presses out the pulp with the must, and it is in all cases 
necessary to return the first running on to the cheese, 
until you you perceive it free from pulp. If you 
choose a pale cider, the pomace must be. pressed as 
soon as possible from the mill : the colour is raised by 
exposing it longer, and in greater surfaces to the air. 
The aptness in cider to imbibe foreign tastes, renders 
an exact attention to your vessels of great importance. 
New vessels, made of seasoned oak, do very well ; 
but those that have been used are better, provided 
they be kept sweet and clean. The must, or juice of 
the apple being obtained, the first object is to clear it 
of pumice : the second, to produce a fermentation to 
your palate and purpose. 

"The most expeditious mode of doing the first in 
the great way, is by putting the must in large open 
vessels, there to stand until the first appearance of 
fermentation.* This comes on sooner or later, from 
circumstances too various for our present considera- 
tion at large. It may serve the purpose to consider 
the operation, as dependent on the degree of heat in 
the air at the time: perhaps sixty hours is long 
enough to be wished for. During that time the heav- 
iest of the pulp sinks to the bottom y the larger and 
lighter parts rise to the surface, where it remains 
until the fermentation begins ,• but the fermentation 
would involve a great part of the pulp, both from 
above and below, into the body of the liquor, and in- 

♦Hogshcads, or even barrels, answer very well with a head 
out, where there are plenty of casks ; but it is as well done in 
the casks you intend to ferment in, provided you attend to the 
first appearance of fermentation at the bung-hole, and remove 
the pulp entirely out of the cask. 



150 CiDER. 

crease the fermentation beyond our control. It must 
therefore be removed before this eifect be produced. 
Soon after the fermention begins, the covering on the 
top of the must cracks and separates, when there is 
not a moment to be lost before you draw it into your 
casks, leaving the pulp behind. In this cask it under- 
goes the first of the fermentation for eight or ten 
days ; but before this most difficult pari o» the art of 
making the best cider can be well understood, there 
are so many points to be considered of, that 1 have 
always hesitated to give my opinion of it, from a cer- 
tainty that the subject would become tedious beyond 
sufferance. There are, however, a few obvious prin- 
ciples of great importance, which maybe borne with. 
" Cider requires a very gentle fermentation, and 
ought to be confined between forty-four and forty- 
eight degrees of heat (by Fahrenheit's thermometer.) 
Musts, of all kinds, increase their heat by fermenta- 
tion. Liquors, of all kinds, will not be colder than 
the air in which they stand. It is easy to compre- 
hend, if these are facts; the impossibility of making 
good cider, when the medium heat of the day exceeds 
forty-eight degrees. I say the medium heat of the day s 
because our best cellars being fifty degrees of heat in 
the latter end of October, renders them, generally, 
unfit for fermenting cider, and involves a necessity of 
having your first fermentation above ground, where 
the heat of the day will have its effect. Hence the 
known fact that cider ferments most kindly in the 
shade, on the north side of your buildings, wherever 
the cool nights of the fall reduce the medium heat of 
the day below forty-eight degrees. During the first 
fermentation abovementioned, attention must be giv- 
en to it, that, in case of rising above forty-eight "de- 
grees, it should be racked off early in the morning, 
(before sunrise, if the weather be warm for the sea- 
son ;) this racking checks the increase of heat occa- 



CIDER. 151 

sioned by the fermentation : nut in late made cider 
there is seldom a necessity of racking in less than 
eight or ten days ; at which time there will be a con- 
siderable quantity of lees fallen to the bottom of the 
cask, from which the cider should now be removed. 

" ff the air in the cellar be fallen to forty-six de- 
grees, or below, you may place the cider in it, leav- 
ing, however, the windows and doors open in the 
night, until the air becomes as low as forty degrees, 
(the heat, in my judgment, best for cider during the 
winter, provided it could be had without artificial 
heat, which is too difficult to manage, to be applied 
in cellars.) 

" The earlier made cider, checked in its fermenta- 
tion by water from time to time, becomes soon fine, 
and is a very pleasant drink. That made later, and 
checked in the same manner, with the proportion of 
one fourth water, is soonest fine, and, during the win- 
ter, is not inferiour to the best cider unmixed. 

" During the whole time of fermentation the casks 
must be kept full, so that the yeast, pulp gas, or what- 
ever you please to call that matter which rises in 
fermentation, may be thrown out of the cask, and 
not return into the liquor: for if it does, it operates 
as yeast, renews the fermentation, and will destroy 
the cider. 

"In about five weeks after the first racking, it 
should be again racked, taking care to draw off none 
of the lees. The bung may be left out a month longer 
without any ill consequence, or at most laid lightly 
on the bung-hole, when it may be proper, if the fer- 
mentation is ended, to bung it down ; in a few weeks 
it will be fine spontaneously, provided the fermenta* 
tion has been well conducted. If any part of the 
process has been injudicious, or unavoidably wrong, 
and the cider be not €ne by the 20th or 25th of Feb- 
ruary it should be forced with isinglass. But let me 



152 CIDER. 






warn you not to attempt fining it after the 20th of 
March, unless your cellar be uncommonly secured 
from air. For the spring will as certainly produce a 
motion in your cider, as blossoms on the trees ; at 
which time glutinous finings, retaining the air produc- 
ed or separated by this new fermentation, will be ei- 
ther retained from falling down in the cask, or borne 
to the surface of the liquor. Three staples of isin- 
glass, dissolved in cider, is sufficient for a hogshead. 
It should be pulled into small pieces, and covered with 
cider in an earthern vessel, adding a quart of cider 
to it every six hours, till it is dissolved ; stirring it 
frequently. When dissolved, which will be in two 
or three days, strain it through a coarse cloth ; add a 
gallon or two of cider,and pour it into the cask,stirring 
the whole together with a stick. Leave the bung 
out ; it will generally fine in four or five days. It 
must not remain above ten or twelve days at most on 
the finings; if you do not bottle it, it must be racked 
again into other casks. 

If cider is to be kept in casks after May, early in 
the spring cover the bungs with rosin, or cement of 
some kind : to do this, open a spile hole while the 
cement is laid on ; otherwise no art can cover the 
bung effectually : the air from within will force up 
the cement through the smallest passage, and disap- 
point a thousand attempts to fill it up : when cover- 
ed, and the cement cooled, make the cask tight by 
driving an oaken spile into the hole. Iriferiour 
cider, for the harvest field, is kept by adding a gallon 
of cider brandy to a barrel. The method 1 have di- 
rected above, produces a fine sweet cider, retaining 
the taste of the apple. More frequent racking weak- 
ens the body and preserves the sweetness ; fewer 
rackings, and laying long on the lees, renders it 
harsher and more heady. If cider be well fermented 
in due time, you may freeze it down to any strength;. 



CIDER. 1 53 

taking care to draw it oft' before a thaw comes on* 
If cider be imperfectly fermented, the spring produces 
fermentation anew, and it will destroy itself, unless 
preserved by distilled spirits, or by brimstone, which 
last is too offensive to be used." Mr. Cooper, of New 
Jersey, says, that he finds advantage from burning a 
match of sulphur, suspended in the cask by a wire, 
after putting in two or three buckets of cider. To 
prevent a succeeding fermentation, put in a handful 
of powdered clay ; and to preserve it, add one quart 
of apple brandy to each barrel. It is said, that if ci- 
der become somewhat tart, about half a peck of good 
wheat, boiled and hulled in a manner similar to rice ? 
may be put into each hogshead (or one quart to a 
barrel,) which will effectually restore it ; and also 
contribute to preserve it when drawn out of one 
cask into another." Dom. Eney. 

The following method is recommended for trial. 
"On the evening of the day your cider is made, place 
it in your cellar. Take one quarter of a pound of 
isinglass for a hogshead, or two ounces for a barrel, 
and put it into two quarts of cider: let it simmer and 
dissolve over the fire. Then put it into your cider, 
well secured from air except a small vent hole, and 
your cider will be perfectly clear, and remain sueet and 
good for years" This process from the New England 
Farmer (vol. 2, page 121) merits consideration, and 
the following facts may serve to assist in the expla- 
nation of the nature of the process. It is ascertained 
hy chemists, that gluten or jelly in must is essential 
to fermentation, ; and the gluten from the isinglass 
in this process, uniting with the acid from the fruit, 
produces the desired effect in promoting the vinous 
I fermentation, and rendering the liquor perfectly clea? 
and pure. 



14 



154 CIDER* 






HOW TO CLEAN CIDER CASKS* 

Casks made of good seasoned oak, iron bound, and 
well painted, may be used for many years ; but no part 
of the management of cider is more essential than to 
keep the casks perfectly sweet and clean ; without 
which, it is impossible to have good cider. When a 
cask having contained cider, is emptied, it must be 
thoroughly rinsed with cold water immediately, or oth- 
erwise, the lees will sour, and fix an acid that can hard- 
ly be removed ; and if long continued, dries on the 
staves so hard as to require much labour in scrubbing 
it off: in this case, it should be white-washed with 
lime — put about one pint of unslacked lime into a bar- 
rel, to which pour three or four gallons of boiling wa- 
ter, shake it well, giving it vent ; let it stand till cool, 
and rinse with cold water ; if it still retains the sour 
smell, let the operation be repeated. When it is rinsed 
perfectly clean with cold water, pour into a hogshead at 
least six gallons of boiling water, roll and shake the 
water to every part of the cask, so as to heat it on all 
sides ; then pour out the water and lay your cask ex- 
actly bung hole downwards, the water running clear 
and entirely off, the heat in the cask will dry it perfectly. 
In this state, bung it up as carefully as if filled with 
your choicest liquors, and return it to the cellar and 
it will remain perfectly sweet and fit for use in the 
following season. It is best however, to inspect each cask 
before you Jill it. This is done by fixing a candle to a 
wire, three feet long, and letting down the candle 
through the bung hole into the cask, you can then see 
every part of the inside distinctly. If it is clean and 
tight, it is not best to rinse it again with water. 

STUMMING CIDER CASKS. 

Take strips of canvass, or linen, or cotton rags, a- 
fcout two inches wide, and twelve inches long, dip the 



cider; 155 

end of each, in melted sulphur to the extent of one 
inch : prepare a long tapering bung, so that between 
the two ends, it wili fit any hole ; to the small end of 
this bung, drive in a wire with a hooked end, to hold 
the match. The match being lighted, let it be sus- 
pended from the bung of a cask in which there are a 
few gallons of cider, until il is burnt out ; and, if nec- 
essary, a second match may be burnt. The cask must 
remain stopped for an hour or more, and then roiled 
to and fro, to incorporate the fumes with the cider, 
after which, the cask may be filled up with cider for 
use. 

From the Farmers' and Gardeners' Remembrancer. 

1st. The first step towards making good cider, is 
to procure good fruit. This fruit should be all of one 
kind, or the juice of each kind should be pressed and 
preserved by itself. The complete Farmer's Diction- 
ary, says, "The worse the apple is for the table, the 
better it is in general for cider. The more red the 
apple is in its rind, the fitter it is for cider, that is to 
say, if it is at all fit : for 1 have seen an apple of a 
very deep red, which was worth nothing for thatpur- 
pose. A sweet apple, with a tough rind, will always 
yield a good vinous liquor. The more yellow the 
flesh of the fruit, the better and finer coloured the ci- 
der will be. 

2d. The apples which are intended to make cider 
of the best quality, should be perfectly sound, ripe, 
and clean. None should be ground together, but such 
as are of about an equal degree of ripeness. They 
should not be allowed to remain in a heap till the life 
or spirit of their juices is lost, and they become insip- 
id and mealy ; and as a general rule, they may be said 
to be in the best state for making into cider, when 
they are of that degree of ripeness which makes them 



most pleasing to the palate; or as the complete Farmers' 
Dictionary says, the fruit should be ground when it is 
in the greatest perfection for eating." 

3d. The apples should be spread on a floor, under 
cover, and protected from the weather for the purpose 
of sweating. When the weather is dry and warm, 
they should be permitted to remain in this situation 
four or five days ; but if the weather is wet and cool, 
they should lie a day or two longer.* They should 
then be picked over, wiped, and dried in the sun, and 
those which are rotten, or otherwise detective thrown 
away. 

4th. Apples which drop early, commonly called 
wind falls, or those which are not ripe, or of inferiour 
quality, may be made into an inferiour kind of cider, 
which is sometimes submitted to the still, by which, 
cider spirit is obtained for mixing with store cider and 
other purposes. 

5th. The cooler the weather in which your cider 
is made, provided it does not freeze your fingers nor 
your pumice, the better ; and it is recommended to 
choose a time when the wind is from the west or 
north. Cider, intended for spring and summer use, 
should be made the Matter part of October, or still later, 
if the season will permit. 

6th. The cider-mills, press, grinding mill, trough, 
and other implements should be perfectly sweet and 
clean. Some farmers tell us that cider will work it- 
self clear, and therefore, a little want of cleanliness in 
making it, does no harm. But the truth is, that cider 
receives offensive, unpleasant, or unhealthy taint, and 

*Willich , s Domestick Encyclopedia says, "The duration of 
the time of sweating- may be determined by the flavour of the 
fruit, as different kinds require various lengths of time — from 8 
or 10 days to six weeks. The harsher and more crude the ap- 
ples are, the longer it is necessary that they should remain in a 
sweating" state." 






CIDER. 15? 

communicates it as soon as any liquor. The pomace 
should be laid on the press in clean straw, without us- 
ing any water. 

7th. The riner apples are ground, the more cider 
they will yield. If the mjjl is well fitted, it crushes 
the seed, and gives- a peculiar and pleasant aromatick 
bitter to the must, which becomes the more percepti- 
ble as 'the cider acquires age. 

8th. The trough to hold the pomace should be 
large enough to contain a whole cheese at once. The 
pomace may stand from six to twenty-four hours, ac- 
cording as you wish to give a higher or paler color to 
your cider. But it should be stirred frequently, if 
the weather is warm, to prevent fermentation. Jo- 
seph Cooper, Esq. of New-Jersey, says, the longer a 
cheese lies after having been ground, before pressing, 
the better for the cider, provided it escapes fermenta- 
tion before the pressing is completed. 

9th. The first running from the press, if you would 
have your cider of the first quality, should be put by 
itself. Some have gone so far, as to keep separate 
that which is obtained without pressing. An English 
farmer says, "as fast as the fruit is ground (1 need not 
say 1 use the ripest first) the pulp is put into the 
cheese ; at the bottom of the vat is a tap, through which 
a considerable quantity of vinous juice will run without 
pressing. This is the best cider, and 1 barrel it sepa- 
rately." The Farmers' Assistant, however, says, "the 
first and last running of a cheese should be put by it- 
self, as it is not so good as the rest." 

10th. When the pressing of the apples is finished, 
the most careful makers of cider strain it through a 
hair sieve or coarse cloth, or sand, to separate it from 
the coarsest dregs. It must then be left to itself, till 
it has gone through the necessary fermentation ; for 
this purpose some put it into hogsheads, and others 
into great tubs or vats, wide at top and narrow at bot- 
*14 



15S CIDER. 

torn, containing from five to twenty hogsheads. In 
these vessels the heaviest lees subside, and the lighter 
lees form a crust on the surface, which, when it be- 
gins to crack and sink, gives notice of the time to 
draw off and barrel the cider. This is the English 
practice in general, but our farmers most usually dis- 
pense with vats or vessels, merely for the purpose of 
containing the must while fermenting. They put it 
directly into the barrels or casks in which it is intend- 
ed to remain, at least till racked off some time in the 
winter or spring. It is then deposited in a cool cel- 
lar, and the bungs are usually left out of the barrels 
till the fermentation begins to subside. The bungs 
are then driven in tight, leaving a small spiggot vent 
a while longer if necessary, when at length the spig- 
got hole is closed, and the vessel made perfectly air 
tight. 

1 1th. There are three fermentations of which ci- 
der is capable, viz. the vinous, which produces the al- 
cohol that gives the liquor its stimulating and exhili- 
rating qualities ; the acid, which turns the cider to 
vinegar, and the putrid, which totally destroys its spir- 
it and texture, and reduces it to a nauseous and poi- 
sonous liquid. The principal object in making good 
cider is to stop the ivorking of the cider as soon as the 
vinous fermentation is completed. There are several 
modes by which this may be effected. The first mode 
is, to have the vinous fermentation conducted in ves- 
sels air tight, or as nearly so as possible ; thus pre- 
venting the escape of carbonic acid or fixed air, which 
gives it life, and causes its briskness. Cider cannot 
become vinegar unless it can give out carbonic acid 
gas, (fixed air) and receive oxygene gas, (vital air) 
which is the principle of acidity, from the atmosphere. 
If the fermentation proceeds slowly, especially in air 
tight vessels, the liquor is impregnated with carbonic 
acid which under different circumstances would make 



\ 



CJBER. 159 

its way into the open air. It has been a practice to 
pour a tumbler of oil into the bung hole of every ci- 
der cask. This entirely excludes the oxygene of the 
atmosphere from access to the liquor to turn it sour, 
and in part confines the carbonic acid which gives it 
life and makes it brisk and sparkling. Another prac- 
tice is, to confine by main force, the carbonic acid to 
the fermenting cider. Dr. Darwin, says he was told 
by a gentleman who makes a considerable quantity of 
cider on his estate, that he procured vessels of strong- 
er construction than usual, and directed the apple 
juice, as soon as it was settled, to be bunged up close, 
and that though he had a vessel or two burst by the 
expansion of the fermenting liquor, yet this rarely oc- 
curred, and that hiscider never failed to be of the 
most excellent qualitiy, and was sold at the highest 
price. New cider may likewise be stopped in vessels 
of no more than common strength, and buried pretty 
deeply in the ground, or immersed in spring water, in 
which situation we are told that it may be kept for 
y^ears, and be very fine when taken up. 

12th. It is likewise said, that a handful of powder- 
ed clay, or a quarter of a pound of salt petre, or the 
same quantity of alum, put into a barrel of cider when 
fresh from the press, or before the fermentation has 
begun., will so check and regulate that process, that 
the barrel may be stopped tight immediately, and then 
will retain all its fixed air. 

13th. It is often the case that those who under- 
take to be very philosophical in the process of manu- 
facturing cider, make a troublesome and expensive job 
of it, and after all, spoil their liquor. They cause it 
to undergo so many fermentations, while exposed to 
the open air, that it loses all its carbonic acid gas, or 
fixed air, and perhaps, a part of its alcohol or vinous 
spirit, if the whole fermentation, which is necessary 
to change the raw apple juice into sound and rich ci- 



160 CIDER. 






der, could be conducted in closed vessels, according 
to Dr. Darwin's theory, as given in paragraph 1 1, the 
products of such fermentation, which are alcohol and 
carbonic acid gas, would be preserved, become incor- 
porated with the liquor, and cause it to be rich and 
lively, without being harsh and heady. By exposing 
new cider in open vessels till the acetous fermentation 
has produced its results, the carbonic acid gas is ex- 
pelled, but a part of the alcohol is retained. Hence, 
vinegar will intoxicate, if drank in sufficient quantity. 
But the carbonic acid gas retained in cider, properly 
manufactured, exhilirates, without inebriating ; stimu- 
lates and enlivens, instead of operating like an opiate, 
and causing those who drink it to become at once 
wild and stupid. It is the want of understanding these 
principles which lead so many would-be philosophical 
geniuses to doctor off their cider, and punish them- 
selves by drinking the dead liquor. They rack and 
rack, fine and superfine their cider, till it becomes as 
vapid as dish-water and as sour as lemon juice, or a 
something which tastes like a compound of both those 
articles. It is much better to proceed according to a 
common practice of New-England cider making, viz. 
Take the must or new cider directly from the press. 
Strain it through straw or a coarse sieve into clean 
and sweet casks ; give it no more vent during fermen- 
tation than is necessary to prevent the bursting of the 
vessels, and not draw off till it is drawn for use. It is 
necessary, however, during the fermentation, to keep 
the casks full, that the matter which rises may be 
thrown out of the vessel. 

14th. It was well observed bv Mr. Winkley, in his 
communication respecting the mode of making cider, 
adopted by the religious society called Shakers, that 
"the slower cider is in fermenting, the better it will 
be." The reasons are these — if cider ferments slow- 
ly, it generally stops working at the end of the vinous 



CIDER, 161 

fermentation, and does not pass to the acetous fermen- 
tation, which would convert it into vinegar. And if 
the fermentation proceeds slowly, the fixed air has 
time to combine, and become incorporated with the 
liquor, instead of escaping into the atmosphere. By 
mixing a proper quantity of alcohol (spirit of any 
kind) with cider fresh from the press, you may stop 
the acetous, and of course prevent the putrid fermen- 
tation. But the spirit so mixed, hastens the vinous 
fermentation, which, as before observed, is the only 
fermentation which can be suffered in making good 
cider. The alcohol will check the turbulence of the 
fermenting liquor, by combining with the carbonic ac- 
id gas, which causes the fretting and fuming as well 
as gives the life of the liquor. Thus Nicholson's Four- 
croy says, "alcohol dissolves the carbonic acid gas, which 
it condenses and liquifies more than in (he proportion of a 
volume equal to its own." 

1 5th. We learn that the religious society mention- 
ed above, make use of cider-spirit, distilled from the 
lees of cider, to regulate the fermentation of their 
new cider and fit it for the table. They do not, how- 
ever, make use oi their cider-spirit till they have rack- 
ed off their cider about the first of January. They 
then add from one to three gallons of the spirit, to 
one barrel of cider, and "bung it down air tight, and 
let it stand till it becomes of mature age." This ap- 
pears to have been the principal improvement, which 
has rendered the cider manufactured by the society 
so famous, and caused it to command an extraordinary 
price in market. A friend of ours, however, has a 
mode of using the cider-spirit in refining his cider, 
still less troublesome, and we believe at least equally 
efficacious. This gentleman mixes from one to two 
gallons of cider brandy with his cider, when fresh 
from the press, and immediately closes the barrel per- 
fectly air tight* In about a month's time, in the or- 



162 CIDER. 

dinary temperature of a common cellar in the latter 
part of autumn, his cider is perfectly fermented, and 
purified, so as to be in its best state for the table, with- 
out the trouble of stumming his casks with brimstone, 
and hazard of their bursting., oran^ necessity of rack- 
ing off his liquor. 

16th. The quantity of spirit to be thus mixed with 
cider, we conclude should be in some proportion to 
the strength of the must. If that contains a good deal 
of spirit, it will ferment quietly and quickly ; other- 
wise, it will be turbulent, and must have vent, or it 
will endanger the vessel which contains it, and soon 
become flat and sour. The same thing will take 
place with malt liquor. Ale, or strong beer, which 
contains considerable alcohol, can be bottled without 
difficulty ; but small beer, which has but little alco- 
hol, is apt to burst the bottles. And in bottling ci- 
der, a spoonful or two of brandy or other spirits mixed 
with the cider in the bottles, will prevent that violent 
effervesence, which might otherwise burst the bottles. 
Some writers say, that sugar, honey, molasses, or oth- 
er sweet substances, mixed with new cider, will 
strengthen it, and prevent its fermenting to excess. 
This is probable, for any sweet substance mixed tfith 
a due quantity of water, or other mild liquid, will gen- 
erate alcohol, and the latter will combine with the 
fixed air, and thus put a stop to its turbulence. But, 
doubtless, to fine cider with saccharine matter, would 
require a longer time than with alcohol ; and we 
doubt whether it would be so safe or so effectual to 
use the former as the latter, in close vessels. 

17th. An English writer says, that an infusion of 
hops is useful in cider, to give it a flavour, and an a- 
greeable bitter. Another recommends grinding elder 
berries with the fruit, which gives the cider a fine 
colour as well as flavour. Rye whiskey is likewise 
recommended as a good substitute for cider-spirit to 



CIDER* 163 

mix with new cider. Ginger, cinnamon, spices, raisins, 
&c. have their advocates, who assure us that they are 
very good ingredients in cider. But we believe gen- 
uine cider-drinkers prefer the clear apple juice. Some 
advise to make use of bullock's blood, calf's feet jelly, 
isinglass, &c* which may be well if the cider needs 
doctoring, but we believe it best to make vinegar of ci- 
der which requires to be medicated with such mate- 
rials, to render it palatable and wholesome. 

18th. The complete Farmers' Dictionary, says, 
that "the best shaped vessels for keeping cider in, are 
those in which the barrel boards are straight, the ves- 
sel broader at one end than the other, and standing 
on the lesser end with the bung hole in the top. The 
advantages of this form is, that in drawing off the ci- 
der, though but slowly, the skin or cream, contracted 
by its fermentation, descends and covers the liquor 
by means of the tapering of the vessel, and thereby 
preserves the spirit of the cider, which would other- 
wise evaporate and waste." A sensible writer, whose 
essay was republished from the' 1 Farmers Weekly Mes- 
senger," in our vol. i, p. 155, has made it apparent that 
white oak iron bound hogsheads, made of heart stuff, 
well painted, and of a size to hold about three barrels 
and a half, and smeared over with some kind of refuse 
oil, with a little Spanish brown and lamp black, once 
in three years, will prove more convenient and eco- 
nomical than such barrels as are commonly used. Be- 
sides, cider ferments more kindly, and keeps better in 
large than in small vessels. Beer vessels are said to 

* Mr. Cooper fines with isinglass or calf's feet jelly, but in case 
the liquor should not fine in ten days, he directs to rack it again, 
and repeat the fining as before, but says it is best to rack, wheth- 
er fine or not, in ten or twelve days, lest the sediment should rise 
which often happens. The foregbing operation shou!<'> be per- 
formed previously to th apples being in bloom in the spriug ; it 
succeeds best in winter, during steady cold weather. 



164 CIDER- 

be bad for cider. They spoil cider and cider spoils 
beer. New vessels made of seasoned oak do well ; 
but those which have been used do better. The re- 
ligious society mentioned above, clean casks by taking 
them from the cellar as soon as convenient after the 
cider is out, (reserving the lees for stilling,) and rinse 
each clean first with a pailful of scalding water, then 
with cold, leaving the casks with the bungs down for 
a day or two. They are then bunged tight and re- 
turned to the cellar, or some convenient place proper 
for their reception. Previous to filling the casks for 
the season, they are scalded and rinsed as above men- 
tioned." The society of shakers, whose cider has ob- 
tained such celebrity that it commands in the market 
ten dollars per barrel, practice the following method: 
The grinding trough being large t enough to contain a 
whole cheese, the pomace is allowed to remain over 
night before pressing ; which contributes much, both 
to the colour and quantity of the cider. In the morn- 
ing it is pressed out gradually and put into casks 
through straw or rather a coarse sieve placed within 
the tunnel ; it is convej'ed immediately to a cool cel- 
lar, leaving out the bungs till the fermentation chiefly 
subsides, when the bung is driven in tight, leaving a 
small spiggot vent a while longer to check the press- 
ure, which is finally closed air tight. About the first 
of January, they will rack it off free from the lees in- 
to clean casks. Having put in three or four pails full 
of cider, a match of brimstone is burnt in the cask un- 
til the cider is well impregnated with the fume, and 
the cask is then filled. After this process they add 
from one to three gallons of spirit distilled from the 
cider lees, to one hogshead ; fill up the cask with ci- 
der, and bung it down airtight, and let it remain till 
it becomes of mature age. Cider managed in this 
way, says Mr. Winkley, one of their members, will 
keep pleasant for years. He would not, however, be 



understood to suggest that good cider cannot be ob- 
tained without the addition of spirit, especially for 
immediate use, or the first years drinking ; but the 
spirit will give it a new and vigorous body, and in- 
sure its preservation. 

A USEFUL METHOD TO PRESERVE CIDER. 

"Take your first made cider, which is fit only for 
the still, and convert it into brandy ; put nine gallons 
of this brandy into a new barrel ; then fill the barrel 
with late made cider well strained, and bung it tight. 
This gives you the strength of near four barrels of ci- 
der in one. The strength given to it by brandy, will 
preserve its sweetness entire for many years. The 
barrels should be new and clean. In this manner, any 
farmer who has the fruit, may put up in six barrels, 
the essence of twenty barrels of good cider, and keep 
it until a time of need. It will fine itself and grow bet- 
ter with an increase of age. Beside, if it is not want- 
ed as cider, it is a very pleasant cordial when undilu- 
ted : and with the addition of a bushel of wild grapes, 
bruised, and put into each barrel, it imbibes the pe- 
culiar flavour of the grapes, and becomes a very pleas- 
ant wine." (New Eng. Farmer.) 

BOTTLING CIDER. 

The most proper time for bottling cider is in the 
month of March or April, before the blossom fermen- 
tation takes place, or in cider spontaneously clear, it 
may be delayed till after this period of fermentation, 
even late in May, but never during the season of blos= 
soming ; for the finest ciders are then somewhat af- 
fected in cleanness, and will have a tendency more or 
less to break the bottles. The liquor should be per- 
fectly clear and transparent, and the bottling should 
15 



t$6 CIDER- 

be in clear weather. Great care should be observed 
in making the bottles perfectly dry and clean, the 
remnants of corks or any kind of matter incrusted on 
the sides, will always impart a bad taste to the cider. 
A few drops of water will destroy a bottle of cider af- 
ter it has been well fermented, more effectually than 
a pint before it has undergone that process. The 
best of corks should be used, but they should not be 
immersed in hot water, but dipped in cider, they will 
drive the easier for this ; in driving with a wooden 
bat, turn the nose of the bottle downward, so that the 
cider shall come in contact with the cork, otherwise 
there will be danger of breaking the bottles. Cider 
should remain 24 hours in the bottles before they are 
corked, this improves the liquor, and renders it less 
dangerous to the bottles. A teaspoonful of brandy 
added to each bottle, is said to have a good effect in 
lessening the fermentation, and thereby preventing 
the bottles bursting. About an inch of vacant space 
should be left in the neck of the bottles below the 
cork, when placed on its bottom, which should be al- 
ways during the first season ; the bottles may then be 
placed on their sides with safety r When cider of a 
superior quality and great vinous flavour, is intended 
to be preserved for some j^ears, it will be useful to 
wire down the corks with brass or copper wire. Bot- 
tled cider should be kept in a cool cellar, if the light 
#an be excluded, it will be a great additional protec- 
tion against the heat of our summers. The bottles 
should never touch, for the concussion which usually 
attends severe strokes of thunder frequently will crack 
them when in contact with each other. The best sit- 
uation for them is a brick cellar floor, with clean dry 
sand up to their necks, to exclude the air and prevent 
their jarring, and still more effectually to prevent 
their bursting during the heat of summer ; take a 
quantity of moss obtained from low, cold, and wet 



CIDER. 16 7 

swamps, cover the bottles while set on the ground in 
the cellar, and with a watering pot drench the moss 
once a week or fortnight. This moss retains moist- 
ure a long time, and will keep them constantly cool. 

"In the transactions of the Mass. Agricultural So- 
ciety, vol. 2, p. 66, there is an account of an improved 
method of pressing cider, communicated by Mr. Paul 
Dodge, of New Castle, State of Maine. Instead of 
making the pomace into a cheese, the apples after be- 
ing ground, aie put into a curb or vat, and levelled 
with a shovel; then covered with a plank and blocked 
up as usual. It may be pressed with a long beam or 
short cider screw, but hay screws are best. The ci- 
der may be pressed in two hours. Two men and a 
boy may make 20 barrels in one day. As no straw 
is used, it may be made in cold weather if the pomace 
does not freeze." (See a description of this implement 
in the New-England Farmer, vol. 3, p. 65.) 

In the New -England Farmer, vol. 3, p. 86, may be 
found some account of an improved cider mill and 
press invented by Hay, Esq. of Milton, New- 
Hampshire, who says, that with his mill and press, he 
could make 100 barrels of cider in 24 hours, and ob- 
tain more juice than could be gained by the mill and 
press in common use. 

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF CIDER. 

This excellent liquor contains a small proportion of 
spirit, but so diluted and blunted, by being combined 
with a large quantity of saccharine matter and water, 
as to be perfectly wholesome. When of a proper age, 
and well refined, pure cider may be considered as a 
pleasant and salutary beverage, and calculated to ob- 
viate a putrid tendency in the humours. 

Strong, astringent cider, well impregnated with fix- 
ed air in bottlea, has been found of great utility in va- 



168 CIDER. 

rious diseases. In low fevers of the putrid kind, it is 
not merely a good substitute, but is equally efficacious 
with port, or other foreign wines. 

"Excellent brandy is made from apples in the United 
States, notwithstanding what Chaptal has said on the 
subject. If carefully distilled from sound apples, and 
kept a few years in a warm situation, it is very agree- 
able, when diluted with water. One wine glass full, 
added to a half gallon bowl of punch, highly improves 
the flavour of that drink." 

POMONA WINE. 

"It is said that several of the agricultural societies 
have adopted regulations for the encouragement of A- 
merican beverage, at their annual jubilees. Currant 
wine is to be substituted for claret ; and the great sta- 
ple of New England, cider, is to be substituted for Ma- 
deira. The following is a receipt to make it : 

"Take cider, made of sound apples, sweet from the 
press, and leach it through a barrel filled with clean 
dry sand. After it has passed through, carefully drain 
it off into a brass or copper kettle, in which it must 
be boiled one hour over a slow fire, and skimmed clean. 
After it has been taken offand cooled, strain it through 
a fine cloth, and put it into a cask that is perfectly 
clean. Set it in a cool part of the cellar, and let it re- 
main five or six weeks, when one quart of the best 
French brandy, and one pound of raisins, must be add- 
ed to eight gallons. 

"It ought to be made a year, at least, before it is 
used. Jt is needless to state that the quality of the 
liquor will be improved by age." 

"This American process has, of late years, been im- 
itated in the cider counties, and particularly in the 
west of England, where several hundred hogsheads of 
eider wine are annually prepared ; and being suppos- 



CIDER. 1 £9 

ed to contain no particles of copper, from the vessels 
in which it is boiled, the country people consider it 
as perfectly wholesome, and accordingly drink it 
without apprehension. In order to ascertain the 
truth, various experiments were instituted by the late 
Dr. Fothergill; from the result of which, he proved 
that cider wine does contain a minute portion of cop- 
per, which, though not very considerable, is sufficient 
to caution the publick against a liquor that comes in 
so questionable a shape. Independently, however, 
of the danger arising from any metallick impregnation, 
we doubt whether the process of preparing boiled 
wines be useful, or reconcileable to economy. The 
evaporation of the apple juice by long boiling, not on- 
ly occasions an unnecessary consumption of fuel, but 
also volatilizes the most essential particles, without 
which the liquor cannot undergo a complete fermen- 
tation, so that there can be no perfect wine. Hence 
this liquor is, like all other boiled wines, crude, heavy, 
and flat : it generally causes indigestion, flatulency, 
and diarrhoea. Those amateurs, however, who are 
determined to prepare it, ought at least to banish all 
brass and copper vessels from this as well as from ev- 
ery other culinary process." (Mease.) 

The most valuable liquor to be obtained from ap* 
pies unquestionably, is the cider wine made according 
to the following process. 

APPROVED METHOD OF MAKING WINE FROM CIDER. 

To one barrel of cider, when just from the press, 
add half a pound of sugar to each gallon, and two gal- 
lons of brandy, West India spirit, or cider brandy. 
The cask must be lightly stopped, and filled up every 
day, while fermenting, for four or five days, and then 
stopped tight and put into a cool cellar. In three or 
four months rack it off, and add two gollons more of 
*15 



170 CIDER. 

brandy to each barrel. Take one quarter of a pound 
of burnt alum, six whites of eggs, and one pint of clean 
sand, mixed together, and put them into the barrel 
when racked, to clarify. When racking, the liquor 
must be kept from foaming, by letting it run down on 
a thin board ; and when the cask is about half full, 
while racking, a match of sulphur must be burned in 
it, and then the cask stopped close and shook, so that 
the smoke may incorporate with the liquor. In one 
year this will be equal to sherry wine, and in two, 
equal to the best Madeira* Having made one cask of 
this a few years since, it so far exceeded my expecta- 
tions, that I can with confidence and pleasure recom- 
mend it to general notice, as a liquor possessing the 
qualities of a sprightly, cordial wine, the cheap pro- 
duce of our own farms, and free from any deleterious 
metallick impregnation. 

APPLE JELLY. 

It is not known perhaps, so generally as it ought to 
be, that apples make an excellent jelly. The process 
is as follows : They are pared, quartered, the core 
completely removed, and put in a pot without water, 
closely covered, and placed in an oven or over a fire. 
When pretty well stewed, the juice is to be squeezed 
out through a cloth, to which a little white of an egg 
is added, and then the sugar. Skim it previous to 
boiling, then reduce it to a proper consistency, and 
an excellent jelly will be the product. 

OF DISTILLERIES OF SPIRIT FROM CIDER. 

It may be gratifying to our farmers, to be made ac- 
quainted with an establishment by which their fruit 
and cider may be advantageously disposed of when 
their orchards are abundantly productive. 



ClfcER. 1 71 

Of Distilleries of Spirit from Cider, copied from a view of the 
cultivation of Fruit Trees, &c. By William Coxe, Esq. of 
New-Jersey, 

"As these establishments have lately assumed con- 
siderable importance to the nation as a great and in- 
creasing source of revenue, and are not liable to many 
of the objections which exist against the distillation 
of spirit from grain — it may not be amiss to state some 
facts, founded on incontrovertible authority, to prove 
that the farmers of our country may calculate on a 
certain demand from these distilleries for the pro- 
ducts of their orchards, however abundant they may 
be, without apprehension from the jealousy of rival 
commercial interests, or the narrow principles of col- 
onial policy, which in fruitful years, reduce the 
price of fruit liquor in the cider counties of Eng- 
land so low, as to be insufficient to pay the costs of 
manufacturing the inferiour quality. 

"Of the quantity of cider spirit distilled in the Uni- 
ted States, we have no positive evidence, it is never- 
theless certain that the quantity is great, and rapidly 
increasing in all the older States north of James 
River. ^ 

"In 1810, from the Marshalls returns it appears, 
that 1103272 gallons were distilled from domestick 
materials in the small state of New-Jersey ; while in 
Connecticut, in the same year, there were distilled 
1374404 gallons — of both these quantities we may 
safely calculate, that 3-4th parts were the product 
of cider. In Essex county, N. J. in the year 1310, 
there were made 1 98000 barrels of cider, and 307310 
gallons of cider spirits were distilled — one citizen of 
the same countj^, iii 1812, made 200 barrels of cider 
daily, through great part of the season, from six mills 
and twenty three presses. In the .present season, 
1816, 25000 barrels of cider were made within the 
limits of a single religious society, as it is called, in 



\1$ 



CIDER. 



Orange township, Essex county, New-Jersey ; com* 
prising about three fourths of the township. Such 
has been the abundance of apples in many of our east- 
ern counties, that hogs and horses have been kept fat 
on them till late in December: in the great scarcity 
of provender produced by the severe drought of the 
last summer, cattle have been fed on the pomace tak- 
en into the fields, and spread on grass grounds, and 
have been kept in good condition until the end of De- 
cember. It is the opinion of some judicious men, 
that as food for animals, the extraordinary abundance 
of apples, has nearly compensated for the short crop 
of corn in our great cider districts. These facts might 
be supported by many others equally strong, to prove 
the importance of this department of agriculture ; al- 
though strictly considered, they do not come within 
the limits I had originally prescribed ^for this volume, 
they appeared to me too important in their nature, 
and too closely connected with the subjects I have 
discussed, to suffer me to pass them over without no- 
tice. 

"A neighbour of mine, of great experience as a dis- 
tiller of cider spirit, once in the month of August dis- 
tilled at the rate of 16 quarts and 7 eighths from a 
barrel of 30 gallons ; i. e. about one 7th of proof spir- 
it. The usual quantity of spirit distilled from early- 
cider on an average, is 8 quarts from a barrel — it has 
been satisfactorily ascertained, that 14 quarts per bar- 
rel is the usual quantity obtained, from the four most 
celebrated Newark ciders, viz. the Harrison, Granni- 
wiukle, Campfield, and Poveshonv" 



VINEGAR. "I^S 



VINEGAR. 

VARIOUS METHODS OF MAKING VINEGAR FROM THE APPLE 

JUICE. 

"The superiority of vinegar made from strong, well 
flavoured cider," says Mr. Coxe, "over the ordinary 
wine vinegar imported from Europe, is generally ac- 
knowledged. The manufacture of vinegar has be- 
come an important branch of rural economy among 
our respectable farmers who are from principle oppos- 
ed to the practice of distillation of ardent spirits : in- 
dividual dealers in our large seaport towns are enga- 
ged in large establishments of this nature— in one in- 
stance, in a single parish in New-Jersey, 1200 hogs- 
heads of cider have been converted into vinegar in a 
single season. The demand for cider for this purpose 
must be great and permanent, and there always will 
be a great demand for vinegar in our country. In one 
season, cider at five dollars per hogshead will be con- 
verted into vinegar at 14 or 15 dollars, an advance 
which will repay the expense and trouble of the man- 
ufacture." Every liquor which has completely un- 
dergone the spirituous fermentation, is spontaneously 
and necessarily disposed to the acid fermentation. 
Accordingly, every vinous liquor does continually 
tend to become vinegar, and is actually changed into 
it sooner or later, according to circumstances, unless 
carefully prevented by art. There are numerous 
methods by which good vinegar may be produced 
from the apple juice by fermentation. The essential 
requisites are, exposure to the atmospherical air of a 
warm temperature, and the addition of some extra- 
neous vegetable matter to promote the acetous fer- 
mentation. When vinegar is weak and vapid, a small 



174 VINEGAtt. 

quantity of alcohol, either cider spirit or that from 
rye, will increase its strength and improve its qual- 
ities. 

Cider vinegar maybe made by fermenting new cider 
with must of apples, in a warm room or in the open 
air, where it should be exposed to the sun, the bung 
of the cask being left open for the discharge of the 
pomace and filth, and for the admission of air ; but the 
bung hole should be secured from rain, as water proves 
injurious. In the course of a week or nine days, the 
vinegar may be drawn off for use. If new cider be 
put on vinegar, or upon the lees or mother, after rack- 
ing off the vinegar, it will hasten the operation. When 
a liquor already fermented is used, it is ol importance 
that yeast or some other ferment be added in order to 
hasten the fermentation. The following method is 
recommended by a writer in the New-England Far- 
mer : "Take raw beets, cut them into disks about half 
an inch thick, and suspend them through the bung 
hole in a cask of pure cider. Renew them three or 
four times, at the intervals of three weeks. Fifteen 
or twenty pieces at a time are sufficient for a barrel 
containing 33 gallons of cider. Place your cask in a 
dry, warm situation, and put on the bung as tightly 
as the twine on which the pieces of beet are suspend- 
ed, will admit." It is probable that the saccharine 
matter in the beet has a tendency to promote the ace- 
tous fermentation. 

The following is a very cheap, easy, and speedy 
method of making the very first rate vinegar — Take 
any quantity you please of the first ripe apples that 
fall, and which are always worth the least for cider, 
which should either be ground very coarse in a mill, 
or what is equally good, bruised in a barrel with a 
common pounder. Then of the coarse ground or 
bruised apples, put a layer of about two inches deep 
into the bottom of a clean cask, then a layer of clean 



\ 



PEAR3. 1 75 

straw of about the same thickness, and so on till the 
cask is full, observing to press the straw and apples 
well together with the hand, while filling the cask. 
Then take one fourth part as much water as the same 
apples would make of cider, if ground and pressed, 
and pour a little at a time into the cask of apples and 
straw. Let it stand two or three hours and then drain 
it off very slowly, just as you would water through 
ashes for making lye. And being thus drained off, the 
same liquor is then to be run through three or four 
times a day for two days successively. It is then to 
be put into a clean cask, where it may work standing 
in the sun. In a short time it will become very fine 
sharp vinegar. At the last drawing off, it will be nec- 
essary to apply some heavy weight to press out the 
liquor. If one pound of honey be added to each gal- 
lon of cider, it will greatly increase the strength of 
vinegar. 



OF PEARS. 

It is no longer questionable that the pear tree is 
well adapted to the climate and soil of New-England. 
Although much neglected by our farmers generally, 
numerous varieties are cultivated in different parts of 
Massachusetts, in great perfection. All the varieties 
of the pear are hardy and long lived, and will flourish 
in a clay or loamy soil, but wet situations are unfa- 
vourable. Most of the directions already detailed, 
relative to the cultivation of the apple tree, may be 
applied to that of the pear tree. The production of 
particular varieties from the seed is equally capricious, 
and the annihilation of certain kinds from long dura- 



i 76 PEARS. 

tion, is supposed to be no less remarkable than in the 
apple. The propagation of particular species is ef- 
fected by grafting or budding, and by this method any 
desired variety may be obtained and perpetuated. 
"Considerable attention is necessary in the choice of 
stocks for grafting. Suckers from other trees should 
never be employed, as they will have a constant ten- 
dency to generate suckers, to the injury of the tree. 
It should be observed, to graft or bud summer pears 
upon summer pear stocks ; autumn pears upon stocks 
of the same kind ; but never graft a winter pear upon 
a summer pear stock, for the sap of the summer pear 
will decline or diminish, before the winter fruit has 
sufficient time to mature and ripen. Every planter 
should keep a nursery of free stocks, by planting the 
seeds of the different varieties, and these should be 
taken from fair and choice fruit, and in their ripe state. 
The season for grafting or budding, and the manner 
of performing the operation, are the same as already 
described for the apple. The pear tree will succeed 
very well, when grafted on a quince ; in which case, 
it is preferable to graft under ground in the root, as 
the tree will be more strong and vigorous ; whereas, 
if grafted above the surface, the produce will be a 
dwarf tree. "The stock should be from what is call- 
ed the Portugal quince, which grows as fast as the nat- 
ural or free stock ; and the pears put on them should 
always be of the soft flesh or butter kind ; the break- 
ing pears do not answer so well on this, as on the free 
stock. In France, all their finest pears of the buttery 
kind are raised ©n the Portugal quince stocks." In 
transplanting pear trees, we are advised, when the 
land is dry and sandy, to perform the business in au- 
tumn, and they will gain root fibres enough to sup- 
port them, before winter, and will shoot in the spring 
better than those which are planted in April But in 
moist places, it is best to dig the holes in autumn, and 



PEARS. J 77 

plant in April, as the cold of winter might greatly in- 
jure them. The soil for pear trees ought to be two 
or three feet deep, and they should be planted shal- 
low, that the roots may spread near the surface, and 
enjoy the benefit of the sun and air ; and by some it 
is accounted useful to expose the same side to the sun 
as when in the nursery. Pear trees require but little 
pruning, comparatively with the apple, and if carried 
to excess, it proves very injurious. All dead branch- 
es, however, and even thrifty ones, which interfere 
and chafe each other, and every sucker proceeding 
from the trunk or roots, should be carefully removed. 
Every large wound should be covered with the com- 
position or cement, as a security against the effects of 
the sun and weather. If affected with diseases, or in- 
fested with insects, the appropriate remedies, recom- 
mended for apple trees, must be applied. In the Ag- 
ricultural Repository, vol. iv. is a communication from 
Mr. Hammon, of Talbot county, Maryland, to the fol- 
lowing purport. "Pear trees, and other fruit trees, 
are frequently affected, and sometimes suddenly de- 
cay, without discovering the causes of their decline. 
A gentleman of this neighbourhood, some years ago, 
observing the situation of his trees, and having unsuc- 
cessfully used many applications, at length dir ected 
their trunks or bodies to be washed with soft soap ; 
and it is not easy to imagine the early change which 
appeared in the bark and foliage : the bark became 
smooth and glossy, and seemed sound and beautiful ; 
and he thought the tree was greatly improved in ev- 
ery respect. I have tried the same experiment, and 
with equal advantage to apple trees; and am persuad- 
ed they have been greatly benefited by this process. 
It is used in the spring, and may be repeated in the 
following years, as frequently as the trees appear to 
require it. Mr. Peters declares, that he used soap 
suds without beneficial effects ; but it is probable that 
16 



178 PEARS. 

the soft soap in substance is more powerful, and that 
having more strength and virtue than the suds, as 
commonly made, it may more effectually destroy the 
worms, bugs, and other insects, which so materially in- 
jure the trees ; and it is believed to be in consequence 
of their destruction, that the bark and branches are 
enabled to derive so much improvement from the ap- 
plication of this substance." 

Mr. Forsyth's treatise contains his method of man- 
aging diseased pear trees, and such as were unfruitful 
from deeay, and has clearly demonstrated, that the 
quantity of fruit was thereby remarkably increased, 
and the quality greatly improved. When old trees 
are affected with canker, or otherwise diseased, by 
which they are rendered unproductive, his practice is, 
to head them down in May or June, as near as possi- 
ble to where they were engrafted. By this method 
the j'oung shoots soon sprout forth, and grow so rap- 
idly, that in two or three years they bear fruit most 
abundantly. Mr. F. illustrates his practical princi- 
ples bv two or three striking examples, and by plates 
representing the trees and fruiw One of the first 
four which he headed down, was a Saint Germain, 
which produced nineteen fine, large, well flavoured 
pears the next year, and in the third, bore more fruit 
than it did in its former state, when it was four times 
the size. Another bore four hundred pears the second 
year ; and he finally found, that the trees headed down 
bore upwards of five times the quantity of fruit that 
the others did ; and it keeps increasing, in proportion 
to the progrees of the trees. "On the 20th of June," 
says Mr. F. "I headed several standards that were al- 
most destroyed by the canker ; some of them were 
so loaded with fruit the following } 7 ear, that 1 v^as o- 
bliged to prop the branches, to prevent their being 
broken down by the weight of it. Jn the fourth year 
afterwards, one of them bore two thousand eight hun- 



\ 



dred and forty pears, while another tree, not headed 
down, growing by its side, being twenty years old, 
bore five hundred pears, which was a good crop for 
its size : so that there were on the old tree, which 
had been headed down not quite four years, two thou- 
sand three hundred and forty more than on the tree 
of twenty years growth." 

The following is Mr. Forsyth's method of training 
the trees, that are cut near the place where they 
were grafted. Every } r ear, in the month of March, 
(April or May for our climate,) he shortens the lead- 
ing shoot to a foot or eighteen inches, according to its 
strength. This shoot will, if the tree be strong, grow 
from five to seven feet long in one season ; and, if left 
to nature, would run up without throwing out side 
shoots. The reason for thus shortening the leading 
shoot is, to make it throw out side shoots ; and if it 
be done close to a bud, it will frequently cover the 
cut in one season. When the shoots are strong, he cuts 
the leading shoot twice in one season : by this meth- 
od he gets two sets of side shoots in one year, which 
enables him the sooner to fill the tree. The first cut- 
ting is performed any time during the spring, and the 
second about the middle of June. When you prune 
the trees, and cut the fore-right shoots in April, al- 
ways cut close to an eye or bud, observing where you 
see the greatest number of leaves at the lower bud. 
and cut at them ; for, at the foot-stalk of every one of 
these, will be produced a flower bud. You will have 
in some sorts of pears, in a favourable season, from 
five to nine pears in a cluster. This cutting should 
not be later than April, on account of the leading 
shoot beginning to grow ; the next topping, when the 
leading shoot grows quick enough to admit of it, should 
be about the latter end of June ; and the length of the 
shoots should be according to their strength, having 
from three eyes or buds to six on a side. Mr. For- 



180 PEARS. 

syth has been successful in renovating old trees when 
in such an advanced state of decay, that very little, 
except the bark, remained. He always applies the 
composition to the wounds, and when, on examination, 
the root is found to be decayed and rotten, he cuts a- 
way all the dead part, to the sound wood, and covers 
the wound. If the above directions be followed, he 
says, you will get more pears in three or four years, 
than you can tn twenty-five years by planting young 
trees, and pruning and managing them in the common 
way. If it be desired to change the kind of fruit, it 
will be easy to graft or bud upon the j T oung shoots. 

The method recommended by Mr. Knight, for re- 
claiming old unproductive pear trees is, to cut away 
all the central branches, retaining those only that are 
nearly horizontal, and all the spurs of these must be 
taken oft' closely with the saw and chisel. Into the ex- 
tremities of the branches thus retained, grafts are to 
be inserted at proper distances, so ay to form a new 
crown. It was on an old Saint Germain pear tree, 
that had been trained to the wall in a fan form, that 
he adopted this mode. As soon in the succeeding 
summer, as the young shoots had attained sulficient 
length, they were trained almost perpendicularly down- 
wards between the larger branches and the u-o//, to which 
they were nailed. In the second year, and subse- 
quently, the tree yielded abundant crops, the fruit be- 
ing equally dispersed over every part. Grafts of no 
fewer than eight different kinds of pears had been in- 
serted, and all afforded fruit, and nearly in equal plen- 
ty. The same mode is applicable to common stand- 
ard trees. By this mode, Mr. K. remarks, the bearing 
branches, being small and short, may be changed ev- 
ery three or four years, till the tree be a century old, 
without the loss of a single crop, and the central part, 
which is almost necessarily unproductive in the fan 
mode of training, and is apt to become s© in the h®r- 



PEARS. 181 

lzontal, is rendered in this way the most fruitful. 
Where it is not desired to change the kind of fruit, 
nothing more of course is necessary than to take off 
entirely the spurs and supernumerary large branches, 
leaving all blossom buds which occur, near the ex- 
tremities of the remaining branches. 

DISEASE OF PEAR TREES. 

Fire Blight. — Pear trees have of late years been 
subject to a malady commonly called Jire blight or bru~ 
hre. During the months of June and July, the ex- 
treme branches turn black as if burned and suddenly 
perish. From the extreme branches, the disease ex- 
tends downwards to the larger limbs, and continues 
to increase until in some instances the tree is entirely 
destroyed ; and what is very singular, trees while in 
a healthy and highly luxuriant condition, and loaded 
with fruit, are so suddenly seized, that they put on 
this deadly appearance in one night; or in 24 hours, 
without any apparent cause. Various are the causes 
assigned by different writers. A writer in the New- 
England Farmer, vol. 2, p. 42, says, on the first ap- 
pearance of the disease on bis trees, being convinced 
that it was the effect of some internal enemy, he in- 
stantly sawed off all the limbs affected. He found 
the enemy not at the point where death ensued, but 
some inches below it. The insect was very small, 
but had eaten a complete circle of the alburnum or 
sap wood, not exceeding the size of a knitting needle, 
so as completely to intercept the passage of the sap. 
Having produced the affected limbs and the insects, 
to the inspection of the late Professor Peck, he was 
led to investigate the subject, and ascertained that the 
insect is the scotylus piri, and in the Massachusetts Ag- 
ricultural Journal, he has given a particular descrip- 
tion of the insect with a plate. It deposits its eggs 
*16 



182 PEARS. 

between the bud and stem before the month of Au- 
gust is passed. After the egg is hatched the grub 
eats its way through the tup into the hardest part of 
the wood and passes through its chrysalis state before 
the next summer. The late Professor Peck observes 
that the mischievious effects of this minute insect, are 
observed in June and July, and that the dead part of 
the branches should be cut off and burnt without de- 
lay, as the insects have not then left them. The 
writer above referred to, says, that by steadily pur- 
suing the system of cutting off the limbs many inches 
below the apparent injury and burning them, the in- 
sects have been extirpated from his estate. William 
Prince, Esq. proprietor of Linnaean Botanick Garden, 
on Long Island, says, the disease is caused by a stroke 
of the sun, which extracts the sap from the uppermost 
branches of the trees, or from such as are most expos- 
ed to its influence with more rapidity than it can be 
replaced ; or from powerful rays of the sun, heating 
the bark to such a degree as to nullify the progress of 
the sap. The only remedy, he says, is to immediate- 
ly saw off the affected branches one or two feet be- 
low where the blight extends, in which case, the tree 
generally revives. A writer in the American Farm- 
er, published at Baltimore, January 1st, 1821, advan- 
ces the opinion with full confidence, that it is a warm 
winter, especially a warm February, followed by a 
cold March, that destroys our pear trees. It is the 
order of nature, he observes, that a tree in severe cold 
weather cannot exist but by a union of the bark with 
the alburnum or sap wood. That if the latter part of 
winter is warm, especially if the ground on which the 
tree stands is rich and cultivated, the sap juice is set 
afloat and in a short time, winter returns upon the 
tree in the cold month of March ; the sap vessels are 
instantly contracted, the juices are stagnated, and the 
limb or tree sickens, and as heat is further applied, 



P^EARS. 1 85 

the injury increases till it dies because heat evapo- 
rates the juices iaster than it can force them into con- 
tracted vessels. This rational theory we are disposed 
to receive as correct, and a probable remedy may be 
found in the application of cold water to the roots of 
the trees in the month of February, provided the 
weather should be so warm as to put the sap in mo- 
tion. Another writer in the American Farmer ascribes 
the disease to worms in the root, having discovered 
in the roots of his trees numerous worms, similar 
in description to the borer in apple trees. Wherever 
this cause is found to exist, the mode of treatment 
should be the same as already detailed when treating 
of the apple tree borer, 

A pear tree brought fronj Holland, and planted in 
the year 1647, is now in full bloom, standing in the 
third avenue at the insersection of Thirteenth street, 
(New-York.) This is probably the oldest fruit tree 
in America. About seventy years ago the branches 
of the tree decayed and fell off ; and at that time it 
was supposed the tree was dying ; but, without any 
artificial means being resorted to, new shoots ger- 
minated and gradually supplied the roots of their pre- 
decessors. The tree now is in full health and vigour, 
and appears to be not more than thirty years old ; 
the fruit ripens the latter part of August, has a rich 
succulent flavour, and has been known by the name 
of the spice pear. (New York Evening Post, May 4, 
1820.) 

Old Endicot Tree, — This tree was brought from 
England and planted by Governor Endicot, nearly 
200 years ago, is now living at Salem, and bears the 
present season. A scion from this tree produced four 
bushels the last year. 

From the pear is prepared a pleasant liquor, known 
under the name of perry, which is made in the same 
manner as cider from apples. In England, particu- 



184 FfcARS. 

lar kinds of pears are cultivated for this purpose, and 
the liquor is held in high estimation. 

The subjoined list contains a selection, from various 
sources, of such as are much esteemed as table fruit 3 
or will meet a ready sale at market. 

1. Amory. — A very superiour pear. Resembles 
the Saint Michael in size and appearance, but ripens 
a little earlier ; a great bearer and not subject to blast. 

2. BenselPs Winter. — It is a large, full, round pear, 
skin yellow, the flesh line and juicy. It is a fine 
keeping fruit and a great bearer. 

3. Brocas bergamot. — A delicious pear, ripe early 
in October. 

4. Brown beurre — Is a large and long fruit, of 
brownish red colour next the sun, melting, and full of 
sharp rich juice, slightly perfumed. Indeed, it is 
one of the best autumn pears we have. Ripens in 
October. 

5. Catharine pear. — Of this there are several vari- 
eties, the earliest of which ripens in July, and anoth- 
er kind in August. They are considered well deserv- 
ing of cultivation, as an excellent summer fruit for the 
dessert and for baking. The tree grows large, and 
is very fruitful. 

6. Chaumontelle, or winter beurre. — "It is a large, 
rich flavoured, melting pear ; the skin a. little rough ; 
often of a pale green colour, but becoming purplish 
next the sun, sometimes with a good deal of red. The 
fruit is left on the tree till the close approach of win- 
ter. It is fit for eating in the end of November, and 
continues till January." 

- 7. Colmart, or manna pear — "Is large and excel- 
lent ; the flesh is very tender and melting, and the 
juice greatly sugared. Both in shape and quality, it 
considerably resembles the autumn, or English berga- 
mot. 1 1 keeps through the winter, till the end of 
February." 



\ 



PEARS. 1 85 

8. Crassane, or bergamot crassane — Is a pear of a 
large size and round shape, with a long stalk : the 
skin is roughish ; of a greenish yellow, when ripe, 
with a russety coating : the flesh is very tender and 
melting, and full of a rich sugary juice. It is fit for 
use from the middle to the end of .November, and is 
one of the very best pears of the season. 

9. Easter bergamot, or "winter bergamot — Is a large 
roundish fruit, of a grayish green colour, with a lit- 
tle red : the flesh between breaking and melting. The 
fruit is fit for the table in February, and keeps till A- 
pril." 

10. Early summer bergamot. — One of the finest 
pears of the summer. It is a highly flavoured delic- 
ious fruit, if eaten before it is too ripe. — The skin is 
green covered with russet spots, turns 3*ellow when 
fully ripe in July, it is of a round form, not large. 
The tree is of moderate size, hard v, and free from 
blight, 

11. Epargne. — A delicious and much esteemed 
fruit. Resembles in shape and size the St. Germain. 
Colour of a greenish cast, with rusty spots. The flesh 
is melting and the juice sprightly. Ripe in August. 

1 2. Fine Gold of summer. — A pear of superior ex- 
cellence. The size is small, the stem long, growing a 
little on one side. The skin a rich yellow on one 
side, on the other a brilliant red, dotted with yellow. 
The flesh rich and juicy and highly flavoured, ripe the 
last of July. The tree is vigorous with long hanging 
limbs. 

13. Garden pear. — This ripens in November. It 
is large and rather long ; the skin yellow, and the 
flesh yellow, rich, and juicy. It is cultivated in Mas- 
sachusetts, and is highly esteemed. 

14. German muscadel pear, or muscat allemand. "A 
noble, large, pyramidal fruit, with a small blossom on 
a shallow excavation, and rather a long stalk. When 



1 86 PEARS. 

ripening on the floor, it acquires a red and yellow 
tint. Its flesh is melting and delicate, full of a spicy, 
delicious juice, similar to that of Muscadel grapes. — 
Eatable from March till May. The tree forms a fine 
crown, and is exceedingly productive." 

1 5. Green Catharine, or Rousselet. — This is by some 
called spice Catharine. The tree grows in form like 
the early Catharine, is very hardy, and a great bearer. 
The fruit fair and fine, excellent in a raw state or bak- 
ed. The size is rather small, the colour of the skin a 
greenish yellow russet and spotted. Ripe in August 
and September. 

1 6. Green summer sugar pear, or sucre vert — Has a 
very smooth green skin ; flesh melting and the juice 
sugary, with an agreeable flavour : the tree is a free 
bearer. Its period of ripening is in August, and it 
can be preserved only a few weeks. The tree bears 
fruit every year, and its blossoms resist the most un- 
favourable weather. 

17. Grey butter pear — > Are well known to ama- 

18. White butter pear — ) teurs, and deserve to stand 
in every orchard, being excellent autumnal fruits. 
The white butter pear is also very excellent for culi- 
nary purposes, even before it attains to maturity by 
lying on the floor. In a good soil, it often forms a 
very large tree ; but the grey butter pear is of a low- 
er growth, though with more expanded branches. 

19. Holland table pear. — This is rather a large 
pear, of very irregular form, the skin is green with 
small russet clouds. The flesh is remarkably juicy, 
melting and sprightly. The stem loi «^. Few pears 
are more admired at a season when fine pears are 
common. Ripens in September and October. The 
tree is of strong and vigorous growth, the foliage lux- 
uriant. It is a great and uniform bearer. 

20. Jargonelle. — This is a well known, fine sum- 
mer pear, ripening in August. The flesh is breaking, 






PEARS. 1 87 

sweet, and has a slightly musky flavour. It is best 
when picked before fully ripe, and matured in the 
house. The tree is a general bearer. 

21. Little muscat — Is of an oblong shape, of a yel- 
low colour, except next the sun, where it is red. Ripe 
in August. 

22. Mons Jean — Is a valuable pear. It is ripe a- 
bout the first of November, and will last till the mid- 
dle of December. 

23. Mogul summer. — A very large, fair and sweet 
pear, and a full bearer. Ripe in August. 

24. Orange pear. — This has been long cultivated 
in Massachusetts, and is still a favourite fruit among 
those who are unacquainted with the superiour kinds 
more recently introduced. The fruit is roundish j 
the skin of a greenish colour, becoming yellow when 
ripe ; the flesh is melting, and the juice sugary ; the 
flavour pleasantly perfumed. It ripens in August, 
and, like all summer pears, is of short duration. 

26. Pound pear — "Is an extraordinary large, thick, 
oblong fruit, of a greenish gray colour : it is often 
reared in the vicinity of buildings, to shelter its pon- 
derous fruit from boisterous winds, before it has at- 
tained to maturity. Though its pulp be somewhat 
tough, it is a very useful pear in domestick economy, 
especially for drying. The tree rises to a considera- 
ble height, and spreads its branches ; is very produc- 
tive, and its blossoms are not liable to be injured in 
the spring." The fruit should be suffered to remain 
on the tree till frost, and then preserved in the com- 
mon manner, for baking and other culinary uses. — 
There is a variety generally called the small pound 
pear, which acquires only half the size of the former, 
but possesses all its valuable properties. 

26. Nonpareil bergamot — "Is a considerably large 
pear, with a green peel, containing a mellow pulp of 
an incomparable aromatick taste. It becomes eatable 



188 PEARS. 

in October and November. The tree is one of the 
largest among the bergamots." 

27. Prince's pear — "Is a small roundish fruit, of a 
yellow colour, but red next the sun : flesh interme- 
diate between breaking and melting : juice high fla- 
voured. The tree is generally a great bearer, and 
the fruit will keep for a fortnight." 

28. Radish pear, — " A very superiour summer 
fruit, the juice of which is so rich, refreshing and 
agreeably acidulated, that it excels in its kind the gray 
butter pear. But as it easily becomes mealy, though 
of a muscadel flavour, when left' to ripen on the 
tree, it ought to be removed, and deposited on 
the floor. The tree is remarkably fertile, and pro- 
duces fruit in seasons when almost every other pear 
kind has failed : hence it deserves to be reared, even 
in climates and situations not very favourable to or- 
chards ; as it is of vigourous growth, and attains to 
tolerable size." 

29. Rousseline — " Is of a deep red colour, with 
spots of gray ; the flesh is very tender and delicate, 
and the juice very sweet, with an agreeable perfume. 
It ripens about the latter end of October, but will not 
keep." 

30. Sarasin. — A valuable winter pear, which 
ought to decorate every orchard, as it may be pre- 
served a whole year. In shape and size it resembles 
the brown Louise, but generally becomes much larger. • 
Its red colour rises on the south side : when it turns 
yellow in July, acquires a buttery consistence, and is 
then eatable. This likewise affords an excellent fruit 
for boiling, drying, and other domestic uses. The 
tree is tall and vigourous." 

31. Seckle pear. — In a letter from professor Ho- 
sack, of New York, dated October, 1818, to the Lon- 
don Horticultural Society, and published in their 
work, we are favoured with the following account of 
this most estimable fruit : 



PEARS. 189 

" The Seckle pear is so named from Mr. Seckle, of 
Philadelphia, who has the credit of having first culti- 
vated it in the vicinity of that city. It is generally 
considered to be a native fruit of this country, acci- 
dentally produced from seed sown by Mr. Seckle, and 
the original tree is said to be still standing on the es- 
tate of that gentleman. An account, however, essen- 
tially different from this, has been lately communica- 
ted to me by my friend judge Wallace, of Burlington, 
to whom I recently paid a visit. He stated to me, 
on the authority of a correspondent in Philadelphia, 
that the pear was grown in that neighbourhood, sixty 
years ago, by a person named Jacob Weiss, who ob- 
tained the tree, with many others, at a settlement of 
Swedes, which was early established near Philadel- 
phia, where Mr. Weiss had built a house. The judge 
suggested the probability of Mr. Weiss and the father 
or grandfather of Mr. Seckle having been intimate, as 
both families were German, and of that rank in socie- 
ty, which might be likely to lead to such an acquaint- 
ance. The conjecture therefore, is, that under such 
circumstances, Mr. Seckle's family obtained grafts 
from tMr. Weiss's tree. 

" Mr. Coxe, in his view of the cultivation of fruit 
trees in America, an interesting volume, which I have 
forwarded to the society, after assigning the same ori- 
gin as I have stated in the beginning of the letter, 
describes the fruit thus: 4 The form and appearance 
vary with aspect, age and cultivation : the size gen- 
erally is small ; the form regular, round at the blos- 
som end, diminishing with a gentle oval towards the 
stem, which is rather short and thick : the skin is 
sometimes yellow, with a bright red cheek, and 
smooth ; at other times, a perfect russet, without any 
blush : the flesh is melting, spicy, and most exquisite- 
ly and delicately flavoured. The time of ripening is 
from the end of August to the middle of October. 
17 



1 90 PEARS. 

The tree is singularly vigorous and beautiful, of 
great regularity of growth and richness of foliage, 
very hardy, possessing all the characteristicks of a 
new variety. Neither Rosier or De La Quintinge 
among the French, nor Miller or Forsyth among the 
English writers, describe such a pear as the Seckle ; 
nor have 1 found one among the intelligent French 
gentlemen in our country, who has any knowledge of 
it in his own." 

" I may add to the above, that the fruit is admitted 
by all to be one of the most exquisitely and highly 
flavoured we possess. Its flavour is very peculiar, 
having a factitious aromatick perfume, rather than 
the natural odour or taste of fruits. The late general 
Moreau informed me that he had never tasted this 
fruit in France, the country in which, of all others, 
the finest pears are cultivated." 

32. Skinless pear, or early ruselet. — This is a long 
shaped, reddish coloured fruit, with a very thin skin; 
the flesh melting, and full of a rich sugary juice. It 
ripens in August. 

33. Squash pear. — This pear is cultivated in Mas- 
sachusetts, and Mr. Coxe thus describes it. The 
fruit of highest estimation for perry in England ; it 
is an early pear, remarkable for the tenderness of its 
flesh; if it drops ripe from the tree, it bursts from 
the fall ; whence probably its name. The liquor 
made from it is pale, sweet, remarkably clear, and of 
strong body; it bears a price fourfold of other perry. 

34. Saint Germain — Is a large, long pear, of a jel- 
lowish colour when ripe ; flesh melting, and very full 
of juice, with considerable flavour. If the tree be 
planled on a dry soil, in a warm situation, and trained 
against a wall, it bears pretty freely. There are two 
varieties, a spurious and the true ; and it is believed, 
the former is by much the more generally dissemina- 
ted. The true is of French origin, and often is very 



PEARS. 1 9 1 

large, of a pyramidal form, having a thick and dotted 
green skin, but which, while ripening on the floor, 
becomes yellow. The spurious fruit ripens in De- 
cember, remaining green whan ripe, and generally 
decays by the end of January : unieSs the soil and 
season be favourable, it is insipid and watery $ it is 
shorter, and its form is subject to more variations 
than that of the true variety. The true St. Germain 
keeps in perfection till the end of March, and for 
sweetness and flavour, ranks among the very best of 
the winter pears. Mr. Coxe complains that this tree, 
in our climate, is very subject to the fire blight, so 
destructive of the finest and most delicate pears in this 
country ; and observes thai it would be highly useful 
to the cultivators of fruit cculd the cause or cure of 
this evil be discovered. 

35. St. MichaeVs or yellozo butter pear, — The same 
as the Doyenne, or Dean pear. For the richness of its 
flesh, and excellence of- flavour, it is said to be infe- 
riour to none except the Seckle ; and (ew pears are 
more admired and extensively cultivated in the Unit- 
ed States. The fruit is large, round, inclining to ob- 
long in shape, fair and handsome ; its skin glossy and 
smooth, resembling unpolished gold ; occasionally 
streaked and marked with bright yellow spots. It 
displays either a blush or bright russet on the south 
side. The flesh of this luscious fruit is white, and the 
juice so remarkably cold that it sometimes offends a 
weak stomach, and occasions eructations, it should 
be gathered before it is quite ripe, and matured in the 
house, in order to have it in true perfection ; and it 
may be in use from the beginning of September to 
the first part of November. The tree does not grow 
-to a large size, but is an early and never failing bearer. 

3G. Summer Beurre, or butter pear of summer. — The 
fruit is of the common size, of a bright yellow when 
fully ripe. The flesh is sprightly rich and juicy, if 



192 PEARS. 

gathered before quite ripe and kept a few days in the 
house. The tree is of a singular growth, the branches 
long and bending, with large knobs at the extremities. 
It bears young and very abundantly. In perfection 
all the month of August. 

37. Summer good Christian — Is a large, oblong fruit, 
with a smooth and thin skin, of a whitish green col- 
our, but red next the sun ; full of juice, and of a rich 
perfumed flavour. It ripens in August. The tree is 
large, and generally fruitful. 

38. Virgouleuse. — "A delicious pear, of a pyramid- 
al form, with a deep bloom, and short fleshy stalk. Its 
peel is whitish green, and, if ripening on a floor, (from 
December to March,) generally acquires a fine yellow 
tint : its pulp melts in the mouth, yielding a copious 
aromatick juice. The tree grows to a moderate 
height." 

39. Winter baking pear. — This fruit abounds in 
Massachusetts, and is much valued as a baking pear. 
It is not eatable in a raw state, not being juicy or well 
flavoured. It keeps well through the winter, and the 
flesh, on being baked, turns to a fine red colour The 
tree is not large, but seldom fails of affording an annu- 
al crop of fruit. 

40. Winter good Christian. — The fruit is very large ; 
the flesh is tender and breaking, and is very full of a 
rich sugared juice. The fruit is in eating from March 
to June. 

41. Winter thorn — (Epine d'hiver) — "In size and 
shape is similar to many kinds of egg-pears. Its peel 
is at first whitish grey, and turns yellow when ripen- 
ing on the floor. The pulp is mellow, sweet, and of a 
delicious aromatick taste. This pear is fit to be eaten 
in November, and remains sound till the end of Janu- 
ary. The tree vegetates with great luxuriance. 1 ' 

42. Red bergamot. — This pear is of moderate size, 
and roundish form, flattened at the ends. The skin is 



PEARS. 193 

yellow,lhe side next the sun of a lively red, dotted 
with small russet spots. The fruit is very full of juice, 
of a fine flavour, rich and sprightly. Ripens in Au- 
gust. When the tree is considerably advanced, it is a 
great bearer. 

The celebrated horticulturalist Mr. Knight, has 
generously furnished John Lowell, Esq. President of 
the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, with trees and 
grafts of the following new varieties, the produce of 
his own ingenious improvement. 

Cassiomont — A large pear, yellow upon one side, 
and red upon the other. Ripens in October. 

Tillington. — It is perfectly melting or rather per- 
fectly beurre, and very rich, sprang from a seed of 
the'autumn bergamot, and the pollen of the Jargonelle, 
and its form is precisely such as you would expect 
from snch a mixture. It is ripe in November. (This 
example, observes Mr. Lowell, will shew our cultiva- 
tors the process of Mr. Knight, and the great changes 
produced by it* He removed from the flowers of 
the autumn bergamot all the anthers. He< impregna- 
ted the germ with the pollen of the Jargonelle. He 
took the seeds of the fruit, thus obtained, sowed them, 
and produced a new pear, having a mixed form, between 
that of the Jargonelle which is long and eminently 
pear shaped, and that ef the autumn bergamot, which 
is flattened, and rather apple shaped : and it ripens 
nearly two months later than either of its parents.) 

Urbaniste. — A large and nearly globular pear ; col- 
our yellowish green ; the flavour of rose water. Sea- 
son November. 

Buerre Knox. — Large, pear shaped, yellow; season, 
November and December ; an excellent pear. 

Marie Louise. — Middle sized ; colour, pale yellow. 
Season, November and December ; a most excellent 
variety. 

Napoleon. — Somewhat smaller than the Marie Lou- 
*17 



194 QUINCE. 

ise ; exceedingly melting and juicy. Season, Novem- 
ber and December. 

Florelle. — Middle size, and pear shaped ; colour, 
bright red, nearly scarlet, with minute dark points ; 
a most beautiful and excellent variety. Season, No- 
rember. 

Colmar <PHyver. — Shape, va^ing from nearly glob- 
ular to pear shaped ; colour, yellowish green. Sea- 
son, January — a melting pear of rirst rate excellence, 
and very productive. 

Passe Colmar, — Large, and pear shaped, but very 
broad towards the eye, An exceeding fine melting 
pear, which by being kept in different temperatures, 
may be brought to table in perfection, from the be- 
ginning of January to the middle or end of April. 
The variety is so productive as to make it necessary, 
generally, to take off9-10ths of the fruit. 

Hardenpont de Printems, — A large, pale, green pear, 
with rather a rough skin. It ripens in England in the 
end of April or beginning of May, and its flesh at that 
period nearly resembles that of the brown Beurre in 
autumn. It is a very productive variety, and in our 
climate, Mr. Knight, thinks will prove the most valu- 
able variety of all. 



QUINCE TREE. 

The quince may be propagated by layers, or young 
sprouts, which must be covered in the earth, or by 
cuttings taken from the tree in April, and set into the 
ground at proper distances, where they will take root 
the first season, and they may be transplanted at pleas- 
ure to the place of their ultimate destination. This 



PEACHES. 196 

tree may also be propagated by budding or grafting ; 
and, according to Mr. Forsyth, trees thus obtained 
will bear sooner and be more fruitful than those rear- 
ed by any other method. Quince trees flourish best, 
and are more productive in a moist soil, though the 
fruit from those set in dry situations, is said to possess 
a finer flavour. The quince tree requires but very 
little pruning ; the most important part of their man- 
agement consists in clearing their stems from suckers, 
and in cutting off such branches as interfere with each 
other. All luxuriant shoots that strike up from the 
middle of the tree, must be lopped off, to prevent the 
head from being too much crowded with wood, which 
might impede the growth of the fruit. If the tree be- 
comes diseased or rotten, the dead parts should be cut 
away, and the composition applied, as in apple trees. 
We are advised to plant quince trees at a good dis- 
tance from apple and pear trees, lest the farina be- 
come mixed, and the fruits dengenerate. The quince 
tree is liable to the attack of the worm borer, the 
same as the apple and pear tree; and the same rem- 
edies are to be recommended. 



OF PEACHES. 

The soil and climate of our southern and middle 
States are considered as peculiarly congenial to the 
growth of the peach tree, and accordingly, it. has long 
been more generally and extensively cultivated there 
than in any other section of the union. It is reared 
on every plantation, and not unfrequently peach or- 
chards, covering many acres, and consisting of several 
thousand trees, are presented to the view of the trar- 



196 PEACHES. 



* 



eller. It is, however, more for the purpose of distill- 
ery than the luxury ot the table, that this species of 
fruit receives so much attention from our southern I 
brethren ; an excellent and highly-flavoured brandy 
being obtained from it by distillation. It is exceed- 
ingly to be regretted, that the peach tree of late 
years has become liable to premature decay, and the 
period of its duration is greatly diminished, inso- 
much, that its continuance in a healthy bearing state 
seldom exceeds three or four years. This mistortunc 
is increased by the circumstance, that a peach orchard 
cannot be roared a second time on the same spot, un- 
less the soil be renovated by several years' interme- 
diate culture of other crops. The soil best adapted to 
the peach tree is a mellow, sandy loam. Situations 
naturally wet, or inclining to clay, are unfavourable. 
Water should never be suffered to stand round the 
roots of tender trees, especially in strong land, as it is 
apt to produce the mildew, and destroy them. 

In England, peach trees are planted against a wall, 
to which their branches are trained, and nailed either 
in the fan form, or nearly horizontally, and being the 
subjects of particular care and culture, it is not un- 
common for peach trees to continue to produce annu- 
al crops during forty years. 

The propagation of peach trees is accomplished ei- 
ther by planting the stones or kernels, or by budding 
on proper stocks. By the first method there is con- 
stantly a great tendency to deviate from the nature of 
the variety from which the seed was taken, and the 
variety maybe almost indefinitely increased. Jn Ma- 
ryland and Virginia, this last mode is adopted without 
budding, by which numerous varieties are obtained, 
and among them are found some of superiour quality. 
It, indeed, on some occasions happens, that the same 
fruit is produced with that of the seed planted. The 
stones are planted in beds or drills, in October or No- 



REACHES. 197 

vember, or they may be preserved in sand, and plant- 
ed in March : in this ease the stones must be broken 
open without injuring the kernel, which is the part to 
be planted. In one year the seedlings may be trans- 
planted in rows into the nursery, which may be done 
either in autumn or spring. It is to be recollected, 
that neither the stoYies nor seedling trees should be 
planted on ground lately occupied by peach trees, un- 
less the whole of the old roots be removed, and fresh 
mould be put in to supply the place of the old. But 
the most certain method of preserving a particular va- 
riety is by budding; peach trees thus obtained, al- 
ways afford fruit in size, colour, and taste, exactly sim- 
ilar to that of the tree from which the bud was taken, 
and come sooner into a bearing state. Stocks, on which 
peaches may be budded, besides those of their own 
kind, are the almond, the apricot, and the plum. The 
proper season for budding are the months of Augnst 
and September, and the operation is to be performed 
in the manner directed for apples and pears. In two 
or three years after budding, they bear fruit. In 
taking up the young trees, care must be taken to pre- 
serve the roots as much as possible. Such parts as 
are bruised should be removed, and the small roots 
may be shortened. It is important that the trees be 
equally filled with side shoots from top to bottom ; 
for when suffered to run up in single branches, the 
trees in general are so weak and spongy, that they 
are unable to bear good fruit. Accordingly when the 
seedlings are about one year old, Mr. Forsyth recom- 
mends to head them down to five or six buds, or oth* 
erwise to cut off the extremities of the leading shoots, 
which will make them send out side shoots, and form 
a handsome, fruitful tree. None of the shoots should 
be suffered to grow too long during the first and sec- 
ond years, which is easily prevented by pinching off 
the tops of them with the fingers during the month 



198 PEACHES. 



\ 



of June. Peach trees when left to their natural course 
are apt to run up to a long naked stem, with a few 
naked limbs and small weak boughs at the tops, the 
tree inclining to one side in an uncomely form, and 
not capable of bearing much fruit. Peach trees, says 
Mr. Cobbett, should be so pruned as to give them a 
good broad form. The tree should in the first place 
be budded very near the ground. After planting it 
where it is to stand, cut it down to witnin 1 1-2 feet 
of the ground, and always cut sloping, close to a bud. 
In this foot and a half there will be many buds, and 
they will the first summer, send out many shoots. 
Now when shoots begin 'to appear, rub them all off 
but three ; leave the top one, and one on each side, at 
suitable distance lower down. These will in time be- 
come limbs. The next year, tap the upright shoot 
that came out of the top bud again so as to bring out 
other horizontal limbs, pointing in a different direction 
from those that came out the last year. Thus the tree 
will get a spread : after this keep down the aspiring 
shoots ; and every winter cut out some of the weak 
wood, that the tree may not be over burdened with 
wood. The lowest limb of the tree should come out 
of the trunk not more than 9 or 10 inches from the 
ground. " When peach trees come into a bearing 
state, they produce two sorts of buds : where three 
stand close together, the two on each side are called 
flower or blossom buds, and the central one is called 
a wood bud. The former rise immediately from the 
eyes of the shoots, and are round, short, and promi- 
nent, while the wood, or shoot buds are oblong, nar- 
row, and rlattish. Sometimes whole fcreea, or a large 
proportion of the branches, produce nothing but sin- 
gle flower buds, and in pruning, ifa shoot be cut off. at 
a single flower bud, the remains of it, as far down as 
the next wood bud, it is said, will surely die ; it must, 
therefore^ be observed, as a rule, to cut just above the 



PEACHES. 1 99 

cluster of three buds, and the wood bud will shoot 
forth and become the leader, and be prepared to pro- 
duce fruit the next year. 

It is the practice of Mr. Forsyth, when old peach 
trees run up too high and thin, to cut them down as 
far back as he can find any shoots or buds, alwaj^s 
leaving some young shoots or buds, otherwise there 
will be great risk of killing the tree. If there area 
few young shoots, the top may with safety be cut off 
just above them, as they will lead the sap up, and 
produce strong branches, which should be topped, the 
same as a young tree. The operation should be per- 
formed in the month of .April, and the young shoots 
will bear fruit the next season. The composition 
must be applied to the wounds, where the old branch- 
es are amputated, and the canker should be carefully 
cut out, and any part where the gum is seen to ooze, 
or the new wood will be affected as it begins to grow. 
When young trees are overloaded with fruit, it is ab- 
solutely necessary to thin them out while small, ac- 
cording to the strength of the tree. 

"The premature decay of peach trees has been as- 
cribed to various causes ; by some, to the degeneracy 
of the soil, and neglecting to manure thfem regularly ; 
by others, to the supposed alteration of the climate, 
the changes from heat to cold being more sudden and 
violent now than formerly, when the country was 
more in forest. But the true causes, as detailed by 
Dr. Mease, (Dom. Ency.) seem to be the following." 

"Peach trees are liable to three casualties : 

"1. The fly, that deposits eggs near the root, and 
there forms a worm. 

"2. The bursting of the bark by severe frosts in 
w*3t winters. 

"3. The splitting of the limbs at the fork of the 
tree. 

"The fly, which is blue, (but not a wasp.) begins its 



200 PEACHE5. 

attacks about the middle of July, and continues its 
depredations until the middle of September. It 
wounds the tender part of the bark, and generally at 
the surface of the ground, there depositing its eggs, 
which hatch into worms, that prey upon the muci- 
lage and tender part of the bark, until the communi- 
cation between the root and the branches is cut off, 
causing the death of the tree. To guard against this, 
raise a little hillock in the month of June, round the 
tree, about a foot high, so as completely to cover that 
part of the bark kept moist and tender at the surface 
of the ground. This hillock will not stand so long at 
one height, as to tender the bark above, as the rain 
will gradually wash it down level with the surface, and 
must be raised again every summer." 

"To take out the worm, the roots must be uncover- 
ed, and the spot looked for where the gum oozes out, 
following the cavity round with the point of a knife, 
until you come to the solid wood, and lay the whole 
open : the worm will be found with a white body and 
black head ; which must be destroyed, and the holes 
carefully filled up with cow manure, rendered adhe- 
sive by sand or lime core and ashes, as directed by 
Mr. Forsyth. 

"Soap suds, heated after a family wash, and poured 
on the roots of trees, about the middle of August, have 
been used with success in destroying the eggs, or the 
young worm. 

"According to Mr. John Ellis, of New-Jersey, the 
injury arising from the worm may be prevented in the 
following way : 

"In the spring, when the blossoms are out, clear a- 
way the dirt so as to expose the root of the tree, to 
the depth of three inches ; surround the tree with 
straw about three feet long, applied lengthwise, so 
that it may have a covering, one inch thick, which 
extends to the bottom of the hole, the butt ends of 



PEACHES. 201 

the straw resting upon the ground at the bottom ; 
bind this straw round the tree with three bands, one 
near the top, one at the middle, and the third at the 
surface of the earth ; then fill up the hole at the root 
with earth, and press it closely round the straw. 
When the white frosts appear, the straw should be re- 
moved, and the tree remain uncovered till the blos- 
soms put out in the spring. 

"By this process, the fly is prevented from deposit- 
ing its egg within three feet of the root, and although 
it may place the egg above that distance, the worm 
travels so slow that it cannot reach the ground before 
frost, and therefore it is killed before it is able to in- 
jure the tree. 

"The truth of the principle is proved by the fol- 
lowing fact, 1 practised this method with a large 
number of peach trees, and they flourished remarka- 
bly well, without any appearance of injury from the 
worm, for several years, when I was induced to dis- 
continue the straw with about twenty of them. All 
those which are without the straw have declined, while the 
others, which have had the straw, continue as vigorous as 
evir." * 

"To guard against frost, plant the trees where the 
water will run off, and procure the sweetest and rich- 
est fruit, as the inferiour qualities are more injured by 
cold. 

"The splitting of the tree at the forks is guarded a- 
gainst by preserving as many upright branches as can 
be spared, by breaking off, in bearing years, more than; 
half the quantity of fruit while small, and by pruning 
almost the whole of every branch beyond where the 
fruit is set, leaving only a few buds on each, of the 
succeeding year's fruit. The size of the fruit is by 

* A band of matting", Extending about six inches above, and 
the same beneath the surface of the earth, may be found prefer- 
able to straw, as it is easier applied, 
18 



302 FSACHfcSv 

these means rendered larger, more beautiful, atid of & 
higher flavour, and the growth of the tree is rendered 
more vigorous." 

"Mr. Thomas Coulter, of Bedford county, Penn 
sylvania, gives the following directions for cultivating 
peach trees, which he has successfully pursued in 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, for forty-five years. See 
Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. vol. v. 

"The principal causes of peach trees dying while 
young, are the planting, transplanting, and pruning 
the same stock ; which causes the stock to be open and 
tender, and the bark of the tree very rough : this 
roughness of the bark gives opportunities to insects 
to lodge and breed in it ; and birds search after these 
insects, for their support, and with their sharp bills, 
wound the stock in many places ; from which wound 
the sap of the tree is drawn out, which congeals, and 
never fails to kill, or to render the tree useless, in a 
few years. To prevent which, transplant your peach 
trees, as young as possible, where you mean them to 
stand ; if in the kernel, so much the better ; because 
in that case there will be no check of growth, which 
always injures peach trees. Plant peach trees six- 
teen feet apart, both ways, except you would wish to 
take your wagon through the orchard to carry the 
peaches away ; in that case, give twenty-four feet dis- 
tance to every fifth row, one way, after transplanting. 
You may plough and harrow amongst your peaches 
for two years, paying no regard to wounding or tear- 
ing them, so that you do not take them up by the 
roots. In the month of March or April, in the third 
year after transplanting, cut them all off by the ground ; 
plough and harrow amongst them as before, taking 
special care not to wound or tear them in the smallest 
degree, letting all the sprouts or scions grow, that will 
grow ; cut none away, supposing six or more should 
come up from the old stump ; the young scions will 



M£A%K£8. 203 

grow up to bearing trees on account of the roots be- 
ing strong. Let no kind of beasts into peach or- 
chards, hogs excepted, for fear of wounding the trees ; 
as the least wound will greatly injure the tree, by 
draining away that substance which is the life there- 
of ; although the tree may live many years, the pro- 
duce is not so great, neither is the fruit so good. Af- 
ter the old stock is cut away, the third year after 
transplanting, the sprouts or scions will grow up all 
round the old stump, from four to six in number : no 
more will come to maturity than the old stump can 
support and nourish ; the remainder will die before 
ever they bear fruit. These may be cut away, tak- 
ing care not to wound any part of any stock, or the 
bark. The sprouts growing all round the old stump, 
when loaded with fruit, will bend, and rest on the 
ground in every direction, without injuring any of 
them, for many years, all of them being rooted in the 
ground as though they had been planted. The stocks 
will remain tough, and the bark smooth, for twenty 
years and upwards ; if any of the sprouts or trees from 
the old stump should happen to split off or die, cut 
them away ; they will be supplied from the ground by 
young trees, so that you will have trees from the same 
stump for one hundred years, as I believe. I now 
have trees thirty-six, twenty, ten, five, and down to 
one year old, all from the same stump. The young 
trees coming up, after any of the old trees split off or 
die, and are cut away, will bear fruit the second year : 
but this fruit will not ripen so easily as the fruit on 
the old trees from the same stem. Three years after 
the trees are cut off by the ground, they will be suf- 
ficiently large and bushy to shade the ground, so as 
to prevent grass of any kind from matting or binding 
the surface, so as to injure the trees ; therefore, 
ploughing is useless, as well as injurious ; useless, be* 
cause nothing can be raised in the orchard, by rea» 



204 PEACHES. 

son the trees will shade all the ground, or nearly so *, 
'injurious, because either the roots, stock, or branch- 
es will be wounded ; neither is it necessary ever to 
manure peach trees, as manured trees will always pro- 
duce less and worse fruit than trees that are not ma- 
nured ; although by manuring your peach trees, they 
will grow larger, and look greener and thicker in the 
boughs, and cause a thicker shade, yet on them will 
grow very little fruit, and that little will be of a very 
bad kind — generally looking as green as the leaves, 
even when ripe, and later than those that have never 
been manured.* 

"Peach trees never require a rich soil ; the poorer 
the soil, the better the fruit — a middling soil produ- 
ces a more bountiful crop. 

"The highest ground, and the north side of hills is 
best for peach trees ; they keep back vegetation, by 
which means the fruit is often preserved from being 
killed by late frosts in the month of April, in the 
Pennsylvania latitude. I have made these observa- 
tions from actual experience, 

"A gentleman from Monongahela county, in Vir- 
ginia, called at my house, and asked me who instruct- 
ed me to cultivate peach trees : I told him that ob- 
servation and experience were my teachers. The 
gentleman observed, that colonel Luther Martin, in 
the lower parts of Maryland, and another gentleman 
near the same place, whose name he could not recol- 
lect, were pursuing the same plan advantageously." 

"The practice of Mr. Coulter, in cutting down the 

* "This assertion is directly contrary to the experience of a 
gentleman in New Jersey, who has remarkably line peaches, 
regularly manures his trees every year, and asserts that the 
speedy decay of common peach trees is owing- chiefly to a neg- 
lect of the practice. He ev r en said experience convinced him 
it was owing- to the same circumstance, that peach stones did 
ootjin general, produce fruit like the original tree. 



PEACHES. 205 

trees, is highly rational : they are thus forced to 
spend their vigour upon their bodies and roots, in- 
stead of shooting up into the air with thin barks, which 
are easily penetrated by the i\y* 

"The best kind of peaches is said to be produced 
from inoculation ; and upon an apricot stock, as they 
are not liable to be injured by the fly ; and that peach 
trees thus produced, grow larger and rise higher than 
when on the peach stock. Grafting the peach upon 
a plum stock has also been practised, with a view of 
resisting the attack of the fly ; but this operation must 
be performed under ground, otherwise an unsightly 
knob will be the consequence of the peach tree over- 
growing the plum stock, and endanger the breaking 
off of the tree at the place of junction.* 

"The directions given by Forsyth, with respect to 
wall peach trees, may be applied to our standard trees, 
viz. to pinch off all the strong shoots in June, the first 
3^ear the tree bears ; which will make them throw out 
side shoots : these, if not laid too thick, will make fine 
bearing wood for the succeeding year. If the strong 
shoots be suffered to grow to their full length they will 
be large and spongy, and will neither produce good 
fruit nor good wood for the following year. Some- 
times weakly trees are covered with blossoms : but if 
too much fruit be suffered to remain on them, they 
will be weakened so much that they will never recov- 
er. In that case, I would recommend picking off the 
greater part of the fruit, to let the tree recover its 
strength. When trees in this state are pruned, never 
prune at a single Jlower bud ; as the shoot will be ei- 
ther entirely killed, or, at least, die as far as the next 
wood bud. 

* Mr. Cobbett, who has published a book on the subject of 
gardening, gives a decided preference to the plum stock for 
peaches, as being closer and harder wood* 

*18 



206 PEACHES. 

"I have often topped the strong shoots twice in the 
course of the summer, before they produced the fine 
kind-bearing wood. These strong shoots exhaust the 
tree, and never produce good wood, when neglected 
to be topped. I would recommend to cut out such 
shoots when the trees are pruned in the spring, and 
to leave only the bearing wood, which may be known 
by two small leaves, where the flower-buds will be in 
the following year ; (the strong shoots having only 
one leaf bud at each eye ;) and to pick off all side 
shoots near the tops of the branches, as soon as they 
can be laid hold of." 

In addition to the foregoing details, I must not omit 
to recommend in strong terms, other means of pre- 
serving the health and vigour of this very valuable 
tree, the fruit of which, when in perfection is perhaps 
equal, if not superiour to that most luscious of the 
tropical fruits, the ananas. Since it is ascertained that 
the fly deposits its eggs which produce the fatal worm, 
in the bark, it is obvious that if the stem of the tree 
could be enveloped with some harmless substance, it 
might baffle the instinctive faculties of the fly, or from 
its hardness, resist its powers of attack. For this 
purpose, let the earth around the roots and stem be 
removed, and its place supplied with some one of the 
articles mentioned in page 107; after which, let the 
whole trunk of the tree and large branches, from the 
surface of the earth to the top, receive a good coating 
of the composition of quick lime, cow dung and clay, 
page 107. This would not be a very expensive expe- 
dient even for an extensive orchard, and the preser- 
vation of the trees would be an ample reward; but 
for a few favourite trees in the garden no person need 
hesitate to try the experiment, even upon young 
trees, at the time of transplanting. Should it fail as 
a preventive remedy against the fly and worm, (which 
is scarcely possible) the application will have a ten- 



PEACHES. 207 

dency to increase the growth and vigour of the tree. 
Ifinanyofthe uncovered branches black spots or 
oozing of gum should be discovered, let the branches 
be immediately cut away, and the wound covered 
with the same composition, and young shoots will 
soon sprout forth and bear fruit. When peach trees 
have become unproductive from old age or disease, 
Mr. Forsyth, from long experience, recommends to 
head them down according to rule, and apply the 
composition, by means of which, trees in the worst 
condition may be completely renovated, and render- 
ed abundantly fruitful. Hitherto, the diseases of peach 
trees among us have eluded all our art and skill : how 
far a different management may prove successful, time 
and experience must determine. Jt may, however, 
well be questioned whether it is most profitable to re- 
new our stock by frequently planting the seed, or to 
attempt to protract the existence of old unproductive 
trees by the application of remedies. 

Since writing the above, the following fact has been 
announced in the newspapers of New York. A very 
simple mode of preserving and restoring peach trees 
when apparently nearly destroyed by the disease so 
fatal to them in this quarter, and commonly called 
the "yellows" has been accidentally discovered by a 
gentleman in that city. A statement of the fact, as 
it occurred, will convey all necessary information. 
In the tall of 1818, a very fine tree standing in his 
yard, was apparently dead from the effects of the 
above mentioned disease. Throughout the fall and 
winter, very large quantities of common wood ashes 
were casually thrown by the servants about the roots 
of the tree. To the astonishment of all who had seen 
it the preceding fall, it put forth its leaves vigorously 
the next season and bore abundance of fine fruit. A 
small quantity of ashes was again thrown round its 
roots last fall, and the tree has now become so full of 



208 Reaches. 

fine fruit, that it has now become necessary to prop 
it up. Another gentleman has since tried the same 
experiment with all the success he could have desir- 
ed, and he wishes to have the information as widely 
diffused as possible. In the New York Evening Post, 
April, 1823, a writer ascribes the cause of the decay 
of peach trees, to small grubs, about an inch in length, 
that breed in the roots, from eggs deposited there the 
preceding season, and in the spring hatch and feed 
upon those roots until the tree perishes. He recom- 
mends the following remedy, which he says, has nev- 
er been known to fail. As soon as the buds begin to 
put forth in the spring, and before the leaves are 
quite out. remove from the bottom of the tree entire- 
ly, all the earth till you come to the bare roots ; from 
which, scrape all the loose, old rotten bark, and de- 
stroy all worms that may be discovered ; then take 
three quarts of fresh slacked lime for a large and full 
grown tree, and so in proportion for a smaller one, 
and lay it carefully on and about the roots, covering 
it from the weather, and it will destroy these destruc- 
tive insects entirely. Lime or ashes should be applied 
to the roots of peach trees every spring, by way of 
preventive, and the whole of their trunks should at 
the same time receive a thorough brushing over with 
soft undiluted soap. According to Mr; William Prince, 
proprietor of the Linnaean Garden, on Long-Island, 
the disease called the yellows is evidently contagious. 
It spreads at the time when the trees are in blossom, 
and is disseminated by the pollen or farina blowing 
from the flowers of diseased trees, and impregnating 
the flowers of those which are healthy, and which is 
quickly circulated by the sap through the branches, 
foliage, and fruit; causing the fruit, wherever the in- 
fection extends, to ripen prematurely. In order to stop 
the progress and prevent the farther extension of this 
disease, Mr. Prince recommends from his own ex- 



PEACHES. 209 

perience, that as soon as a tree is discovered to pos- 
sess thecharacteristicksof the disease, which is known 
by the leaves putting on a sickly yellow appearance, 
but of which the premature ripening of the fruit is a 
decisive proof; it should be marked, so as to be re- 
moved the ensuing autumn, which must be done with- 
out fail, for if left again to bloom, it would impart the 
disease to many others in its vicinity. 

"A good peach possesses these qualities : the flesh 
is firm ; the skin is thin, of a deep or bright red col- 
our next the sun, and of a yellowish green in the 
shade ; the pulp is of a yellowish colour, full of high- 
ly flavoured juice ; the fleshy part thick, and the 
stone small. They are generally divided into free 
stone and cling stone peaches. Those varieties, th e flesh 
of which separates readily both from the skin and 
stone, are the proper peaches of the French, and are 
by English gardeners termed free stones. Those with 
a firm flesh, to which both the skin and the stone ad- 
here, are the pavies of the French, and by English and 
American gardeners named cling stones. 



LIST OF CHOICE PEACHES, 

From McMahon's American Gardener, and other sources. 

All the varieties, he observes, may be cultivated 
to advantage in every state of the union, if soil and 
exposure be given agreable to their nature and neces- 
sities. 1. The Early Avant ; 2. The White Nut- 
meg ; 3. The Red Nutmeg ; 4. Early Mignonne ; 
5, Early Ann ; 6. Early Newington ; 7. Early E- 
lizabeth-Town; 8. The White Magdalen ; 9. Red 
Clingstone; 10. White Clingstone; 11. Kenne- 
dy's Caroline ; 12. Royal George; 13. Oldmixon ; 
14. Late Heath ; 15. La Plata; 16. Georgia; 17. 



2 1 PEACHES* 

The Congress ; 13. Bourdine ; 19. President; 20* 
English Incomparable ; 21. Chancellor Rambouiliet; 
22. La Titon de Venus; 23. La Pourprie; 24. 
Belle Chevreuse ; 25. Noblesse ; 26. Bellegarde ; 
27. Large Yellow Freestone ; 28. White Pavie ; 
29. Monstrous Pavie; 30. Clifton's Nutmeg; 31. 
Lemon Peach ; 32. Large Newington ; 33. Caro- 
lina Clingstone. 

1. Admirable peach. — A very large and comely fruit, 
of an agreeable mixture of colours. Its pulp, though 
rather firm, has a delicate taste, contains a sweet, vi- 
nous juice, of a fine flavour, and is pale red near the 
stone. It becomes eatable about the middle of Sep- 
tember. 

2. Alberge^or orange peach — Is one of the most ele- 
gant and best flavored of the clingstones ; rather large 
than otherwise ; round ; dark red or purple next the 
sun, and bright orange on the other side ; being deep- 
ly furrowed from the stem to the blossom end ; the 
flesh of a deep orange colour, but purple at the stone ; 
ripens in August. The tree is a very great bearer. 

3. Aunt peach, or early Ann — Is a small, round fruit, 
of a yellowish white colour, faintly tinged with red 
on the sunny side ; ripening about the middle of Au- 
gust. 

4. Bellegarde, or Galande* — This is a beautiful, large 
and excellent peach, with a strong tint of red on a 
yellow ground, and of a deep red shade on the south 
side. Its pulp, though rather firm, jnelds a sweet 
juice, of an agreeable taste. Ripens in September. 

5. Blood Peach — Makes a beautiful preserve, and 
is cultivated chiefly for that purpose. The tree is 
hardy, and a great bearer. 

6. Boudine — Is a large, round fruit, of a fine red 
next the sun ; the flesh white, melting ; juice vinous 
and rich ; ripens in September. The tree a plentiful 
bearer* 



1 



PEACHES. 21 1 

7. Catharine* — A large, round fruit, of a dark red 
next the sun; the flesh white, melting ; full of a rich 
juice ; a clingstone — ripens in October. 

8. Charles-town, or ananas peach — Is a new sort, 
reared in America from the kernel. Although its col- 
our is inferiourto that of most other peaches, being a 
uniformly pale yellow, without any red tint, yet its 
firm and juicy pulp possesses the. delicious flavour of 
the pine apple. It ripens in October. 

9. Early Newington — Is a fruit of middling size, of 
a fine red next the sun ; flesh firm, with a sugary, well 
flavoured juice. There are several varieties of this 
fruit, all clingstones ; ripening in August and Septem- 
ber. 

10. Heath peach. — Of all peaches, perhaps of all 
fruits, it is said, there are none equal in flavour to the 
American Heath peach, a clingstone. It is large, weigh- 
ing near a pound, in common ; with but moderate 
attention, it is helieved, the} r would very generally 
weigh a full pound. It is backward in ripening north- 
ward of the Susquehannah, and is generally one of 
the last sort that ripens. "This very fine clingstone 
peach is generally esteemed the finest in our country : 
the original stone was brought, by the late Mr. Dan- 
iel Heath, from the Mediterranean ; it has ever since 
been propagated from the stone, in Maryland, where 
1 have seen it in great abundance and high perfec- 
tion, as a natural fruit, in September and October. It 
is usually propagated in this and the adjoining States 
by inoculation : I have for some } T ears raised them 
from the stone, and have now a number of vigorous 
trees from stones, brought from Maryland. It is a 
very large fruit, of a form rather oblong, and uniform- 
ly terminating in a point at the head ; the flesh is 
singularly rich, tender, melting and juicy ; the stone 
frequently opens, disclosing the kernel : the skin is a 
rich, cream coloured white, sometimes with a faint 



2 1 2 PEACHES 

blush, but the finest peaches are entirely white ; the 
juice is so abundant, as to make it difficult to eat this 
peach without injury to the clothes ; the leaf is luxu- 
riant, and smooth at the edge ; the tree vigorous, har- 
dy and long-lived, compared with other trees : the 
fruit ripens in September, lasts through the month of 
October, and is frequently eaten in high perfection in 
November. It is of all peaches, when not too ripe, 
the most admired, when preserved in sugar or in 
brandy," (Coxe's Cultivation of Fruit Trees.) 

1 1. Large mignonne — Is somewhat oblong in shape, 
and generally swells out on one side. The juice is 
\ery sugary, and of high flavour. This is one of the 
most handsome and delicious fruits, of a dark red and 
greenish yellow cast ; having a white, melting and a- 
greeable pulp, containing a sweetish vinous juice, and 
is in eating about the middle of September. 

12. Large yellow rareripe — Known at -Ken rick's nur- 
sery by the name of Jaccjue's rareripe — an entire new 
sort, recommended by colonel Jacques, and Gorham 
Parsons, Esq. as a fruit possessing superiour qualities, 
and weighing 17 or 19 ounces. The tree, says Mr. 
Kenrick, exceeds in growth all other peach trees. 

13. Lemon clingstone — Is a large, late, but beautiful 
and high flavoured peach. It ripens the last of Sep- 
tember and beginning of October. 

14. Monstrous pavie, — This is the largest, of the 
peaches, and a true ornament to the dessert, as it dis- 
plays a beautiful red tint on a white ground. Its 
pulp is white, though red in the parts next the stone, 
and contains a vinous, sweet juice. Ripens in Sep- 
tember. 

15. Noblesse — Is a large fruit, red or marbled next 
the sun ; flesh greenish white and melting ; juice 
very rich in a favourable season. 

1 6. Old Newingion — Is a large round fruit, of a 
beautiful red next the sun \ the flesh white, and melt- 



REACHES'. ^13 

ing ; when ripe, the juice very rich and vinous : a 
clingstone, and matured early in October. 

1 7. Rambouillet — Is a fruit of middling size, deeply 
divided by a furrow ; the flesh melting, of a bright 
yellow colour ; juice rich, and of a vinous flavour: 
ripens about the middle of September. The tree is a 
good bearer. 

18. Red rareripe — "Is a peach of uncommon excel- 
lence, frequently called Morris's rareripe. It is of 
unusually large size, sometimes weighing eight and 
nine ounces $ of a round form, beautiful red and white 
skin ; rich, tender and melting flesh, full of sugary, 
highly flavoured juice ; equal to any peach cultivated 
at the same season. Ripens in the early and middle 
parts of August. Clear at the stone." (Coxe.) 

19. Red magdalen. — It is large, round, and of a fine 
red next the sun ; the juice ver\ sugary, and of ex- 
quisite flavour: ripening in the end of August. The 
tree is a free grower, and a great bearer. 

20. Red nutmeg — Is a great bearer, and valued for 
its early maturity. It is of a bright vermilion colour, 
and has a fine musk taste. Ripens in August. 

21. Royal George — Is an excellent peach, and in a 
very good soil and aspect the fruit becomes large ; 
dark red next the sun, juicy and high-flavoured. 

22. S7valch, — This is a fine, pleasant-flavoured 
peach. Ripens early in September. 

23. Teton de Venus — Is a fruit of middling size and 
longish shape ; of a pale red next the sun ; flesh melt- 
ing, white ; juice sugary, and not without flavour: ri- 
pens the end of September. The tree is a free bear- 
er on a warm light soil, but the fruit comes to perfec- 
tion only in fine seasons. 

24. Vanguard — Is a good peach, ripens about the 
middle of September. 

25. White Magdalen. — The fruit is of a middle size, 
round, with a deep furrow ; of a pale colour, and the 

19 



214 NECTARINES . 

flesh white to the stone ; melting, juicy, with consid- 
erable flavour. Ripening in August. 

26. White Rareripe, or " White cheek Malacotan peach — 
Sometimes called the freestone heath : is a fruit of 
uncommon excellence. The size is large ; the flesh 
a rich white, inclining to yellow, melting, rich, and 
finely flavoured ; firm, like the flesh of a clearstone 
plum : the skin is a pale yellowish white : the stone 
frequently separates on the opening of the peach, 
leaving the kernel exposed ; the shells adhering to 
the flesh, though a freestone. It is the most admired 
fruit of the season, which is in August." (Coxe.) 



NECTARINES. 

The nectarine is so closely allied to the peach in its 
nature and qualities, as to require no particular de- 
scription or detail respecting its culture or manage- 
ment, whether in health or disease. It will succeed 
well if engrafted or budded on a peach, plum, or apri- 
cot stock. The plum is preferred by some as being 
a harder and tougher wood, less liable to the attacks 
of the worm ; but it should be engrafted beneath the 
surface of the earth. The fruit bears a close resem- 
blance to the peach, though the flesh is finer, and the 
skin is smooth and naked, free from fur or down. In 
our climate, the tree will be benefited if sheltered and 
protected by buildings or a board fence. It should 
always be planted in cultivated ground, and great care 
should be taken to guard against the worm at the 
root, and the various species of aphides which perfo- 
rate the bark. The roots in winter should be sur- 
rounded with tanner's bark, or some substance to se« 



CHERRIES. 216 

care against the severity of frost, and in the spring 
give their trunks a thorough coating of whitewash or 
of soft undiluted soap. All stone fruit is liable to suf- 
fer injury by a small bug called curculio, which stings 
the fruit and causes it to fall from the tree. (See 
page 109 for a particular description.) It has been 
found by experience that the depredations of these in- 
sects may be prevented by paving the ground round 
the trees, as far as the branches extend, as it is well 
ascertained that the curculio will not infest those trees 
where they cannot find means of immediately con- 
cealing themselves in the earth, on dropping from the 
branches. The following are esteemed among the 
best on the list of Nectarines. 

Brugnon, Red Roman, 

Early Scarlet, Yellow, 

Golden, White French. 

Murry, 



CHERRIES. 

There are several native varieties of the cherry in 
the United States, which have been perpetuated from 
the seed, unaided by the hand of culture, and, as sup- 
posed, without any. deviation from the original stock. 
But the cultivated kinds are far more valuable, and it 
is greatly to be regretted, that they are so generally 
neglected. Many advantages would accrue to the 
farmer from the cultivation of the cherry tree : it 
would serve the useful purposes of ornament and shade 
to his orchard and buildings, and the fruit would af- 
ford his family not merely an innocent, but a salutary 
luxury ; and if near a market, the profit would remu« 
aerate him for all his labour and expense. 



216 CHERRIES, 

The cultivated cherry, when reared from the seed, 
is much disposed to deviate from the variety of the 
original fruit, and, of course, they are propagated by 
budding or grafting on cherry stocks : budding is most 
generally preferred, as the tree is less apt to suffer 
from oozing of the gum than when grafted. The 
stocks are obtained by planting the seeds in a nursery, 
and the seedlings are afterwards transplanted. Those 
kinds which are called heart cherries are said to suc- 
ceed best on the black mazard stock ; but for the round 
kind, the Morello stocks are preferred, on account of 
their being the least subject to worms, or to cracks in 
the bark, from frost and heat of the sun.* The whole 
method of management pertaining to cherry trees is 
so precisely similar to that already detailed, when 
treating of peach trees, that very little remains to be 
said on the present occasion. But the following di- 
rections given by Forsyth, in his treatise on fruit 
trees, will probably be acceptable. 

"In choosing and planting of young cherry trees, 
the same rules are to be observed that are given for 
apricots, peaches and nectarines; and they must in 
like manner be headed down the first year. 

"In pruning cherries, never shorten their shoots ; 
for most of them produce their fruit at the extremities, 
the shortening or cutting off of which very frequently 
occasions the death of the shoot, at least of a great 
part of it. The branches, therefore, should be trained 
at full length. I have often seen the whole tree killed 
by injudicious pruning. Wherever the knife is ap- 
plied, it is sure to bring on the gum, and afterwards 
the canker, which will inevitably kill the trees, if no 
remedy be applied to the wounds. I have headed 
down a great many cherry trees, which were almost 

* The small black cherry that grows wild in the woods, an- 
swers very well for stocks for any kind of cherries, more espec- 
ially if it is desired to have the tree grow very large. 



CHERRIES. 217 

past bearing, and so eaten up by the gum and canker, 
that the few cherries they bore were very bad. 

"In the years 1790 and 1791, I headed down fifty 
trees. The operation should be performed in the 
month of April in each year. These trees made 
shoots from three to five feet, the same summer, bore 
fine cherries the next year, and have continued to 
bear gcod crops ever since. 

"To the above trees I applied the composition. At 
the same time I cut down twelve trees in the same 
row, but did not apply the composition : these twelve 
trees all died in the second and third years after. 
One tree where the composition was applied, now 
produces more fruit than the whole number formerly, 
also much finer and larger. 

"When cherry trees are very old and much injured 
by large limbs having been cut or blown off, (which 
will bring on the canker and gum) the best way to 
bring them to have fine heads, and to fill the vacant 
space, is to head them down as low as possible, taking 
care to leave some small shoots, if there be any ; if 
not, a bud or two at the end of some of the shoots. 
Sometimes it is difficult to find any buds. In that 
case, before you mean to head the trees, make some 
incisions in the branches. This should be done on 
different branches, at the most convenient places for 
filling the tree with good wood. The size of the in- 
cisions should be from one to two inches, according 
to the size of the branches, observing to make them 
just above the joint, where the buds should come out. 

"The time for performing this operation, is March, 
April or May. T*ie above method is only recom- 
mended where there are no young shoots or buds, 
and when the tree is in the last stage of the canker. 

"Where you find a few young shoots or buds, cut 
down the head as near to them as you can, and take 
care to cut out all the canker till you come to the sound 
*19 



21S CHERRIES. 

bark. If any gum, remains, it must be cut or scraped 
off: the best time for this is when it is moistened with 
rain ; it may then be scraped off without bruising the 
bark. This operation is very necessary. 

"Wherever the bark or branches have been cut ofl^ 
the edges should be rounded, and the composition ap- 
plied. If the young shoots are .properly trained, 
they will produce fruit the following year ; and in the 
second year they will produce more and finer fruit 
than a young tree which has been planted ten years, 

"Never make use of the knife in summer, if it be 
possible to avoid it, as the shoots die from the place 
where they are cut, leaving ugly dead stubs, which 
will infallibly bring on the canker. These shoots 
may be cut in the spring to about two eyes, which will 
form a number ot flower-buds, 

"When cherry trees begin to produce spurs, cut out 
every other shoot, to make the tree throw out fresh 
wood : when that comes into a bearing state, which 
will be in the following year, cut out the old branches 
that remain ; by that method you will be able to keep 
the trees in a constant state of bearing, take the same 
method as before directed with the fore right shoots. 

"Great care should be taken to rub off many of 
them in the month of May, leaving only such a num- 
ber as you think will fill the tree. By so doing your 
trees will continue in a fine healthy state, and not be 
in the least weakened by bearing a plentiful crop of 
fruit. The reason is obvious ; the great exhalation 
which would be occasioned by the sun and air in the 
common mode of pruning, is prevented by the compo- 
sition keeping in the sap which nourishes the -branch- 
es and fruit. I cut some trees as directed above, more 
than twelve years ago, that are now in as good a state 
of bearing as they were in the third year after the op- 
eration, and likely to continue so for many years. 

"Jn 1797 I cut some very old trees in the month of 



"CHERRIES. 219 

May, which were left to show the old method of prun- 
ing ; I at the same time cut some branches off the 
same trees, according to the new method, to show the 
difference of the fruit, which was taken by all who 
saw it for a different sort of cherry. The cherries 
from the old spurs were not half the size of the others, 
and were at least three weeks later. 

"Several persons have adopted the new method with 
great success, and by renovating their old trees, which 
scarcely bore any fruit, have obtained from them an 
abundant quantity. But even the increased quantity 
of the fruit is not so material in cherries, as the in- 
crease in the size and in the richness of the flavour. In 
this respect the method of pruning here laid down 
is invaluable. When old standard cherry trees be- 
come decayed and hollow, I would recommend head- 
ing them down, as directed for wall trees and dwajfs. 
Scoop out all the rotten, loose, and decayed parts of 
the trunk, till you come to the solid wood, leaving 
the surface smooth ; then use the composition as di- 
rected for fruit trees." 

"The following are the principal cherries cultiva- 
ted in the United States. 

"May Duke — Ripe in May and June : long stem, 
round and red, an excellent cherry, and bears well. 

"Black heart — Ripe in June : a fine cherry. 

"White heart, or sugar cherry — Ripe in June : white 
and red. 

"Bleeding heart — Ripe in June, a very large cherry, 
of a long form, and dark colour ; it has a pleasant 
taste, 

"Ox heart — Ripe in June : a large, firm, fine cheny. 

"Spanish heart — Ripe in June. 

"Carnation — Ripe in July : it takes its name from 
its colour, being red and white ; a large round cher- 
ry, but not very sweet. 

"Amber — Ripe in July. 



£20 CHERRIES. 

"Cluster — Planted more for ornament or curiosity 
than any other purpose. 

"Double blossom — Ripe in July. 

"Honey cherry — Do. small sweet cherry. 

"Kentish cherry — Ripe in July. 

"Mazarine — Do. 

"Late Duke — Do* 

"Red heart — Do. 

Black Tartarian. — This incomparable fruit was 
brought from St. Petersburgh to London by a British 
botanist in 1796, from whence, the late Ebenezcr 
Prebble, Esq. imported a tree some years after, by 
which it has been propagated in the United States. It 
is a constant bearer ; succeeds better by grafting than 
any other sorts ; is of larger size, and may be said to 
be in eating from the time it is two thirds grown till 
some time after fully ripe ; and as evidence of supe- 
riour excellence has generally brought double the 
price of the best black hearts in Boston market. 

White Tartarian — A fine pleasant fruit, a little in- 
feriour to the black Tartarian. Ripe in June. 

Elkhorn cherry* — This excellent fruit grows to a 
large size, and is scarcely surpassed in its good quali- 
ties by any other sort. 

Black Eagle — > Two of Mr. Knight's new sorts 

Waterloo — ) may be purchased at Ken rick's 
nursery next season. 

"Morello — Ripe in July and August : a red, acid 
cherry, the best for preserving, and for making cherry 
brandy. 

"Early Richmond cherry. — This fruit originated near 
Richmond, in Virginia, and is the earliest cherry in 
America, and valuable on that account : it is the size 
of a May Duke, and resembles it in form. 

"Red bigereau — A very fine cherry, ripe in July : of 
a heart shape. 

"While bigereau — Ripe in July and August : remark- 
ably firm : heart shape. 



CHERRIES. 221 

u Large double flowering cherry, — This tree produces 
no fruit, but makes a handsome appearance in the 
spring, when it is covered with clusters of double flow- 
ers as large as the cinnamon rose ; it differs from the 
common double flowering cherry, which never forms 
a large tree, and has small pointed leaves. 

"The three last were imported from Bordeaux, in 
1798. 

"Small Morello cherry— Called also, Salem cherry, 
because it came originally from Salem county. New- 
Jersey, is cultivated by Mr. Cooper, of that state, who 
values it highly. The fruit has a lively acid taste. 
The tree produces abundantly, and is the least sub- 
ject to worms of any cherry tiee. 

"Mr. C. says that the Bleeding Heart suits a sandy 
soil, but the May Duke will not flourish in it." 

Besides the foregoing list, the black mazard, or natu- 
ral cherry, with its several varieties, should be men- 
tioned as excellent fruits, and valuable for being later 
than the others. They make very useful and hardy 
stocks for propagating other varieties. This fruit 
ripens in June or July, and is used by way of bounce 
in rum or brandy. Another native fruit is the com- 
mon red cherry which abounds in New-England* The 
fruit is not of a superiour quality, being very acid, un- 
less perfectly ripe : it might perhaps be improved by 
grafting and proper cultivation. 

The wild, or native black cherry, of spontaneous 
growth, is deserving of some attention. The fruit, 
when infused ; n rum or brandy, imparts its astringent 
and cordial qualites, and forms a pleasant and salutary 
liquor. The bark of the root of the tree is very 
astringent, and makes a useful a to mac hick bitter; and 
the wood is frequently employed by artists as a tolera- 
ble substitute for mahogany, being susceptible of a 
handsome polish. 

Cherry brandy is made in the following manner: 



222 APRICOTS. 

Fill the cask with cherries ; pour over them as much 
brandy as the cask will contain. When it has been 
on ten days, draw it off, and pour on hot water : let 
this remain some time, shaking the cask frequently; 
then draw it off, and mix the last with the first liquor. 
Both cherry and plum trees are subject to the an- 
noyance of the cherry and plum tree weevel,(Rhyne- 
haeas Cerasi) producing a disease which will prove fa- 
tal unless remedied. See plum tree. 



APRICOTS. 

The apricot tree is raised from the stone, and prop- 
agated by buddirg or grafting on their own stocks or 
any kind of plum stocks. Their treatment is in all 
respects the same as the peach and nectarine treess. 
The best time for planting the trees is in autumn, 
and the best soil is a light loam. In our climate 
this tree should be screened from easterly and north- 
erly winds; otherwise, it is said they will not bear 
fruit, though they may grow large. They do not at- 
tain to a bearing state so soon as the peach by one 
year. Some kinds ripen their fruit earlier than oth- 
ers. The following are those best adapted to our cli- 
mate : 

The Black Apricot, 

The Brussells Apricot, 

The Breda Apricot, 

The Early Apricot, 

The Large Eearly Apricot, 

The Peach Apricot, 

The Moors Park Apricot. 

The Turkey Apricot. 



FLUMS, 223 



THE PLUM. 

Plums are natives of the United States, and have 
for many years been propagated from the stones with 
little variation from the original fruit. The kinds 
cultivated in our gardens have chiefly been brought 
from Europe or produced from the stones of imported 
plums. To insure a choice kind it is necessary to en- 
graft or inoculate on peach or plum stocks. The soil 
should be a rich* mould and their whole management 
should be the same as already detailed for other stone 
fruit trees. Plum trees have for a number of years 
been greatly annoyed by an insect called by the late 
Professor Peck, the cherry weevil which has proved fa- 
tal to a large proportion of our stock. The disease 
first appears in the form of black irregular tumours 
on the branches and twigs which increase in number 
and size until the whole tree becomes affected. The 
seat of this disease is in the bark, in consequence of 
its being perforated by the insect. The sap being 
diverted from its regular course is absorbed entirely 
by the bark, which is very much increased in thick- 
ness, the cuticle bursts, and rough irregular tumours 
are formed. "The wood besides being deprived of its 
nutriment, is very much compressed and the branch 
above the tumour perishes. The cherry tree is af- 
fected in a similar manner." The insect which proves 
so destructive to our cherry and plum trees, Profess- 
or Peck ascertained, is found in the bark in the month 
of June, and it leaves its residence before the end of 
that month. The only remedy in our power, there- 
fore, is to cut off every diseased branch before the 
last of June, or as soon as discovered, and commit 
them to the flames. If this method were adopted and 
persevered in with all the trees in a neighbourhood, 
the destructive enemy might be in a great measure 



224 PLUMS. 

extirpated, and the fruit preserved. The most prob- 
able method of preventing the attack of +his insect, * 
is during the whole summer season : to keep the 
bark of the tree with its branches, well coated wit! 
the white wash composition, which it is supposed will 
baffle their efforts. In order to guard against the at- 
tack of the worm at the root, lime or ashes should be 
applied every spring, and if their trunks were sur- 
rounded with tanner's bark, it would be an addition^' 
security. It is a fortunate circumstance that there 
are, according to Mr. Prince, of Long-Island, some 
kinds of plum not subject to the attack of the insect ; 
among which are the following : — Chicasaw, Early 
Coral, Golden Drop, The Cherry plum, Flushing 
Gage, Yellow Egg plum, Balmer's Washington, a much 
celebrated gage plum, which has weighed four ounces, 
and has a superiour flavour, and beautiful appearance. 
The following list in addition to the above, comprises 
a sufficient variety of the most approved kind. 

Blue Ga^e, Large Queen Claudia, 

Green Gage f Little Queen Claudia, 

Red Gage, Smith's Orleans, 

Yellow Gage, Large Red Orleans, 

White Gage, French Copper, 

Holland plum, Magnum Bonum, red 

Cooper's plum, Magnum Bonum, white or egg 

Swiss plum, plum, 

Jacinth, Emperial Violet, 

Cloth of Gold plum, 

American or common Damson. 



CURRANTS. 22 5 

CURRANTS. 

The different species of currants will thrive on 
Mmost any soil, but they require the benefit of ma- 
nure and culture, annually, to make the fruit large 
ad the juice rich. The goodness of the fruit de- 
pends very much upon their having the full benefit 
of the sun and air, to mature and give the berries a 
roper balsamic quality. By planting some on the 
.uth, and some on the north side of a wall, they will 
yield fruit from June to October. The red currant 
is preferable to the white as yielding richer juice, 
and in greater abundance. Currants are easily prop- 
agated in the following manner. Take the most luxu- 
riant slips or shoots of a year's growth, set them in 
the ground about eight inches deep, and not less than 
twenty-four inches distant from each other ; they soon 
take root, and begin to bear in two years : the roots 
should be kept from suckers and grass. When the 
bush has stood two years in the nursery, plant it 
where it is to stand, and cake care that it has only one 
stem. Let no limbs grow nearer than six inches of 
the ground. Prune the shrub every year and keep 
it thin of wood, leaving the middle open ; the limbs 
extended ; and when these get about three feet in 
length cut off every spring all the last year's shoots. 
To cultivate on an extensive scale for the purpose 
of making wine, set the bushes in rows, six or 
eight feet between each bush, with intervals of prop- 
er width and at regular distances for passing across 
the rows. It is estimated that an acre well cultivated 
will probably yield on an average, a quantity of 
fruit sufficient to make one thousand gallons of wine 
annually. The expense of making this wine is about 
fifty cents a gallon. 

The common black currants are larger than the 
red or white, but they have a peculiar flavour 3 which 
20 



226 CURRANTS* 

to some persons is unpleasant; they are, however, 
wholesome, and afford a juice which, when made intt 
syrup with sugar, is much esteemed in sere throats j 
and quinsies. The officinal black currant has a small 
berry, but is highly valuable as a medicine when 
made into wine. In lung fevers, putrid fevers and 
ulcerous sore throats, and in putrid dysentery the i 
medicinal properties of this wine is not to be surpass- 
ed. 



TO MAKE CURRANT WINE. 

Gather the fruit when fully ripe, rejecting all un- 
ripe berries; let them be picked in fair weather and 
washed, break them well in a tub or vat, (some have 
a mill constructed for the purpose consisting of a 
hopper fixed upon two lignum vitas rollers,) press and 
measure the juice, having first strained it through a 
flannel cloth. To every gallon of pure currant juice 
add two gallons of cold water, then to every gallon of 
this mixture, immediately put three pounds of good 
brown sugar, stir it well till the sugar is quite dissolv- 
ed, and then fill up the cask and put it into the cellar 
to ferment. Be careful not to let the juice stand un- 
mixed over night, as it should not ferment before the 
mixture is made. Observe that the cask be sweet 
and clean, and such as never has had either beer or 
cider in them, and if new let them be first well sea- 
soned. The cask must not be so full as to work over. 
Lay the bung or a rag lightly over the hole to keep 
out flies, &c. In three weeks or a month, or as soon 
as the fermentation is over the bung-hole may be 
stopped up, leaving only the vent hole open, till it 
has fully done working, then stop it up tight, and in 
six months it will be fit for bottling or for use. Like 
other wine, however, it improves much by age. If 
you intend to make thirty gallons agreeably to this 



tnis • 



ORNAMENTAL TREES* 227 

receipt, you require eight gallons of juice, sixteen of 
water, and seventy-two pounds of sugar. When you 
draw off the wine, bore a hole an inch at least above 
the tap hole, a little to the side of it that it may run 
clear off the lees. Dr. Mease (Dom. Ency.) gives also 
the following receipt which has been used successful- 
ly for many years. Take fourteen pounds currants 
when fully ripe, three gallons cold water, break the 
currants in the water and let them be therein two or 
three days and stir them once each day. Strain the 
liquor from the fruit and stalks and add fourteen 
pounds sugar, which being well mixed with the cur- 
rant liquor the whole may then be barrelled and left 
fourteen days without the bung: after which bung it 
close and bottle it at Christmas, previously adding to 
every ten gallons one quart of brandy. A small 
quantity of the outer rind of orange peel will give 
this wine a grateful flavour. Currant wine is suppos- 
ed to be greatly improved by the addition of brandy, 
in the proportion of one pint to every gallon of the 
mixed liquor, but it must be added before the fermen- 
tation takes place, that the spirit may check in some 
measure the violence of the fermentative process, 
which if carried to excess is apt to generate an acidi- 
ty in the wine. 



ORNAMENTAL TREES. 

The following is selected from the very ample cat- 
alogue of William Prince, Esq. proprietor of the Lin- 
nasan Garden at Flushing, Long Island — presumed to 
be the most extensive establishment of the kind in the 
United States. 

Horse Chesnut. White flowering. Yellow flowering, 
Scarlet flowering. i 



228 ORNAMENTAL TREES, 

Mountain ash, European, American. 

Black walnut. 

Butternut, 

Calalpa, much admired for its showy flowers. 

Elm, American white, Slippery, English. 

Locust tree, several varieties. 

Honey locust, or thorny acaica. 

Oak, several varieties. 

Willow, weeping and seveial others. 

Tulip tree, or white wood, very stately and ornamen- 
tal. 

Button wood or American sycamore. 

Pride of India, 

European Linden or lime tree, 

Kentucky coffee tree, of singular growth with spikes 
of purple flowers. 

Weeping ash, of singular appearance. 

Venitian sumach or purple fringe tree. This beauti- 
ful tree is covered during summer with tufts of russet 
coloured down, and forms the most singular ornament 
of the garden. 

American chesnut. 

Chinese ailanthus, or tree of heaven. This tree at- 
tains to an enormous height, and its leaves are four 
feet long. It retains its foliage till very late in the 
season. 

Umbrilla magnolia, with very large, white, fragrant 
flowers. 

Glaucous magnolia, with flowers of exquisite frag- 
rance. 

Double flowering magnolia. 

Blue flowering magnolia. 

Splendid magnolia, with leaves two or three feet 
long, and flowers twelve inches in diameter of a de- 
lightful fragrance. 

Evergreen trees and shrubs, an extensive variety* 



INDEX. 



jipples, excellences of . .9 

.American, esteemed in Europe . 11 

. juice of,boiied down, useful en long voyages 14 
physical properties of . . .12 

particular varieties become extinct by age 19 
new varieties, production of 19, 20, 21 

improved by grafting early and late on 

the same tree . . .37 

should be gathered by hand . . 118 

how to ascertain when ripe . 117 

best method of preserving . 118, 121 
juice of, when most dense makes the best 



cider 

which yield the best juice for cider 

useful for animals 

sweet entitled to preference 

useful for a sick horse . 
fattiug cattle 
making molasses 

different sorts of, in United States 

American Gloria Mundi 

American pippin 

American nonpareil 

Aunt's apple 

Autumn or Fall pippin 

Baldwin or Pecker apple 

Baltimore apple 

Black apple 

Bell Flower 

Bow apple 

Brownite 

Bullock's pippin 

Campfield 

Cathead 

*29 



145 

147 

172 

13 

ib 

ib 

14 

122 

135 

124 

125 

ib 

ib 

ib 

ib 

126 

ib 

ib 

ib 

ib 

ib 

ib 



230 



INDEX, 



es, Catline 


. 


127 


Carthouse 




. ib 


Cider apple 


• 


ib 


Codling 




ib 


Corliers' sweet 


. 


128 


Cooper's russeting 




. ib 


Crab apple 


. 


15 


Flat sweeting 1 




. 129 


Gloucester white • 


. 


ib 


Golden pippin 




. ib 


Golden rennet . 


. 


ib 


Gilliflower apple . 




. 145 


Green everlasting 


. 


130 


Green Newton pippin 




. ib 


Greyhouse 


• 


ib 


Hagloe crab . 




. 131 


Harrison apple » 


. 


132 


Hearty sweeting 




ib 


High top sweeting 


* 


ib 


Holmes apple 




. 133 


Holten sweeting 


i 


ib 


Hughes's Virginia crab 




. ib 


Lady apple 


* 


ib 


Lady finger 




. 134 


Large red and green sweeting 


ib 


Large early harvest 


• 


ib 


Loring sweeting 


. 


ib 


Large yellow Newark pippin 


. ib 


Maiden's blush 


• 


135 


Michael Henry 




. ib 


Monstrous pippin . 


• 


ib 


Morgan apple 




. ib 


Newark King apple 


• 


ib 


Nonsuch . . 




. ib 


Nursery apple 


• 


136 


Pearmain 




. ib 


Pennock's red winter 


• 


ib 


Poveshon . . 




, 137 


Pound apple 


• 


ib 


Priestly 




ib 


Queen apple 


• 


ib 


Quince apple 




- ib 


Raritan sweeting 


- 


138 


Red everlasting 




- ib 


Redling 


- 


ib 



INDEX. 231 

Apples, Red streak - - - 138 

Rambo, - - - ib 

Roan's white crab ib 

Rhode Island greening - - 139 

Roman stem - ib 

Royal pearmain - - ib 

Royal russet - 140 

Roxbury russeting - - ib 

Ruckman's pearmain - - ib 

Seeknofurther - - - 141 

Spitszenburgh ... ib 

Spice apple - - - - 142 

Styre #> 

Summer pearmain - - - ib 

Swaar apple - 143 

Sweeny nonpareil - * ' - 145 

Sweet greening - - - 143 

Tolman sweeting - 'ib 

Vandevere ib 

Vanwinkle - 144 

Wine apple ib 

Wine sap - 145 

Yellow sweeting ib 
Apple Trees, soil and climate of the United 

States adapted to - - 10 

original stock of »■ 15 

native crab - - - io 

do not enjoy indefinite longevity 19 

cultivated or seedling stocks 16 
reared from seed seldom produce 

the same kind of fruit It, 19 
best adapted soil for - 18 
reared from seed require to be 
12 or 15 years old to pro- 
duce fruit - - 20 
bow forced to bear fruit - 28 
instance of one bearing fruit of 

opposite qualities - - 23 
should not be planted deep in 

the soil - - - 55 
heading down old ones, utility of 72 

annual wash for - - "78 
means of preserving the health 

and vigour of - - ib 

washing of, with soft soap - ib 



232 JNDEX* 

Apple Trees, white washing of : : 7f. 

clay paint recommended for 79 
diseases of, which render them 

unproductive : : 80 

Apple jelly, how made : : : 170 

Apricots, how propagated : : : 222 

list of : : : : ib 

B • 

Bark of applt trees, scaly should be scraped off 84 

injured by exposure to the sun 79 

Blight : : : : 80, 81 

Blossoms, injured by spring frosts : 87 

black flies : : ib 

Borer, account of by John Prince, Esq. 102 

description of by E. Hersey, : 103 

report of committe in fovor of E. Hersey 104 

methods suggested to prevent its attack 106 



Bottling cider : : : 


165 


Brandy made from apples 


168 


Brush for destroying caterpillar's nests : 


100 


Buds, description of i : 


43 


Budding, observations on : : : 


42 


proper seasons for : : 


43 


different modes of : 


44,47 


c 




Canker, : : : : 


82 


remedies for : • 


83 


Canker worm, character and description of 


88 


various remedies for : 


90, 91 



proposed remedy by professor Peck 92 

Mr. Kenrick 93 

observations on, by J. Lowell, Esq. 95 

tarring recommended by Dr. Dean 90 

he also recommends to destroy them 

through the agency of swine 98 

Caterpillars, : : : : 99 

disgraceful to farmers : ib 

description of : : : ib 

methods of destroying : 100 

brush for destroying : : ib 

Cherries, : : : 215 

method of propagating : 216 

treatment by Forsyth : . ib 

Jist of best sorts- ' : t 219 



INDEX. 23$ 

Cherry Brandy : : : 221 

Cider, making- and managing" : 146 

proper casks for, should be kept sweet 

and clean : : 154 

how to clean the casks : : ib 

stumming- the casks for : ib 
method of making as practised by the 

Shakers : : : 164 

improved method of pressing : 167 

medicinal properties of : : ib 

bottling of : : : 165 

useful method to preserve : : ib 

Cider wine : : : : 169 

Cider mill and press improved : : 167 

Coxe William orchard and cider establishment 122 

Account of distilleries of spirit from cider 171 

the use of apples for hogs and horses 172 

Curculio, account of by Dr. Tilton, : 112 

Currants, how cultivated : : 225 

Currant wine, how made : : 226 

D 

Decortication or disbarking fruit trees - 84 

E 

Engrafting, the art not traced to its origin 33 

proper season for - - 35 

choice of scions - - ib 
when scions should be taken and 

how preserved - - ib 

modes of grafting - - 36 

whip grafting 37 

toogue grafting - ib 

cleft grafting ib 

crown grafting - - - 38 

side grafting - - ib 

root grafting - - ib 

new mode of grafting - 39 

extreme branch grafting - ib 

compositions used for grafting 37 

causes of failure ingrafting - 41 

Engrafted fruit not permanent - - 24 

F 

Fire Blight 181 

Flax shaws useful round fruit trees - 62 
Forsyth heads down old apple trees - -72 



234 



1ND2X. 



Forsyth's composition to be applied to fruit trees 75 

heads down old pear trees - 72 

his management of peach trees - 199 

of cherry trees • 216 

Fruit, directions for gathering and preserving 118 

1 

Inoculation, see budding 

K 

Kenrick's method of cultivating nursery - 31 

remedy against canker worms 93 

nursery establishment - - 124 

Knight's sentiments relative to fruit - 11 

recommends apple juice boiled down 

for use on long" voyages - 14 

experiments for the production of new 

varieties - - 20, 21 

theory of the motion of sap - 30 

method of reclaiming old pear trees 180 
new varieties of pears - - 193 



Lice infesting young orchards in maine 

remedy against - 

M 


110 
111 


Manuring fruit trees, utility of 

b»st kinds of manure • - 


59 
60 


Moss and scaly bark on trees 


84 


N 




Nectarines, cultivation of 
list of 


214 
215 


Nursery - 

soil and situation for 


30 
ib 


method of planting apple seeds in 31 
Nursery pruning - 47, 49 




Orchard planting and culture : : 
most eligible soil and situation for 


50 
ib 


proper season for planting 
proper distance for planting trees in 
Orchard pruning : : 


53 
52 
65 


former errors in : : 


66 


propes season for : 
P 


67 


Peaches : : : 

method of pronajratins: : : 


195 

196 



INDEX. 23"* 

Peaches, budded or grafted on other stocks 1 97 

qualities of : : : 209 

divided into freestones and clingstones ib 

list of preferable peache 3 : 209 — 214 

Peach Trees, liable to premature decay : 196 

cannot be reared where old ones 

have died : : ib 

method of treatment by Forsyth 199 
lime or ashes to be applied to their 

roots : : : 203 

soft soap applied to their trunks 200 
Cobbett's method of pruning- 198 

disease called the yellows,contagious 203 
method of preventing injury from 

the fly and worm : : 200 
best method of cultivating 202, 204 

Prince William, Esq. : : 123 

notices disease of pear trees 182* 
i peach trees 208 

catalogue of ornamental trees 227 
Pears, list of : : 184 

Amory 184. Beurre Knox 193. Bensell's win- 
ter 184. Broca's bergamot ib. Brown beurre ib. 
Catharine ib. Chaumontelle ib. Colmart ib. Cras- 
sane 135, Cassimont 193, Colmar d'Hyver 194, 
Early summer bergamot 185, Easter bergamot ib. 
Epargne ib. Fine gold of summer ib. Florelle 
194, Garden pear 185, German muscadell ib. 
Green Catharine or spice Catharine 186, Green 
summer sugar pear ib. Grey butter pear ib. Har~ 
denpont de Printems 194, Holland table pear 186, 
Jargonelle ib. White butter pear ib. Little mus- 
cat 187. Mons Jean ib. Mogul summer ib. Non- 
pareil bergamot ib. Orange pear ib. Pound pear 
ib. Maria Louise 193, Napoleon ib. Tillington 
ib. Urbaniste ib. Passe colmar 194, Princes 
pear 188, Radish pear ib. Rousseline ib. Sarasin 
ib. Seckle pear ib. Red bergamot 192, Summer 
good christian ib. Virgouleuse ib. Winter baking: 
pear ib. Winter good christian ib. Winter thorn 
ib. Saint Germain 190. Skinless pear ib. Squash 
pear ib. Saint Michaels 191, Summer beurre or 
butter pear of summer ib. 
Pear Trees well adapted to the soil and climate 

of New-England ; : ^ 



^6 INDEX. 

Pear trees may be grafted on a quince stock 176 
benefited by washing" with soft soap 177 
method of treating when decayed 178 
method of reclaiming when unproduc- 
tive by Mr. Knight : 1G0 
extraordinary produce after heading 

down^ : : : 179 

too very old ones :* : 183 

disease of : : : 181 

Perry, : : : : 183 

Plum trees, how propagated : 223 

disease of : : ib 

Plums, list of ... - 224 

Pomona wine - - - 168 

Potash, solution of, remedy against insects 77 

Pruning fruit trees - - - 47, 65 

Q 

Quince tree - 194 

R 

Ringing* fruit trees 28 

S 

Spring frosts, affecting the blossoms - 86 

Sap, theory of the circulation of - 29 

Seaweed applied to fruit trees 62 

Scions when to be taken from the tree - 35 

how preserved - - - ib 

importance of a proper choice of ib 

Slug worm, description of - - 109 

remedy for ib 

Slumming casks for cider - - 154 

T 

Tanner's bark, utility of - 80, 107, 110 

Tobacco and lime, a remedy against insects 77, 116" 

V 

Vinegar, various methods of making from apple 

juice ... 173 

w 

Wine made from cider - - 169 

Pomona - - ' - - 168 

©bservations on, by Dr* Mease - i* 






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